What can my Year 7 art lesson teach me about finding perspective to focus on what matters on a daily basis?
Perspective comes in all shapes and sizes, often when we least expect it. Moments provide perspective and with it they allow us to see things differently, to step back, to reframe and to re-approach things. Perspective brings awareness, literally new ways of seeing.
When I think of perspective I think of the school art homework where we had to draw a room in perspective. The perspective was created by a vanishing point with the contents of the room, from the walls to the windows to the furniture, sitting on parallel lines originating from this vanishing point. We all got our first attempts very wrong, so out of perspective that we ended up re-doing the same lesson the following week.
It isn’t just in drawing that perspective can be difficult. When you get it everything fits, there can be clarity, direction and a sense of peace. When things are out of perspective there can be imbalance. We can experience tunnel vision and what matters can be lost or distorted compared to what feels urgent and critical.
The power of perspective
Perspective is a reminder of what matters to us in that moment, an opportunity to compare that with how things are for us and make steps to refocus on what matters.
When we find perspective we increase our awareness of how things are. As we’ve explored before, awareness allows us to better act in a situation, or as John Whitmore puts it:
‘I am only able to control that of which I am aware. That of which I am unaware controls me. Awareness empowers me.’
The challenge with perspective is that it is often something we receive or are given. We find perspective from a film, a sunset or landscape, a book, or a life event. And not all moments of perspective are particularly positive or in our control. Illness and bereavement can often be painful pieces of perspective.
However, like the art homework, perspective is something that can also be created and practised. By creating perspective we can better navigate the now and ensure we maintain space for what really matters to us.
Creating the parameters for perspective
In the case of drawing perspective we start with the parameters: the vanishing point and all the parallel lines emanating from that point which everything else sits on, so that the objects in the foreground are in perspective to those in the background.
Like in drawing, we can outline similar parameters. What are the parameters that provide or create perspective for us?
Seeing more clearly
Perspective is about seeing. If we think literally, what helps us to see things in perspective?
Distance and space. What can we do to create space and distance, to step back?
For me, things that come to my mind are slowing down or pausing, so in my case it is about what will help me slow down or to pause.
In other cases it can be about seeing. What will help me see something as it is or in the bigger picture? Often it is a conversation, changing context or doing something completely different that allows me to zoom out or reframe whatever I’ve lost perspective on.
For example, a common challenge I experience is seeing several things as immediate and essential, when in reality they are often far less time sensitive or far less critical than I have convinced myself they are.
It is also worth noting that it is just as useful to know what can cause us to lose perspective as it is to know how we can make space to find perspective. While in the moment it can be incredibly difficult to find the perspective to slow down, step back and relax, as we’ll see there are steps that can be taken in anticipation.
Drawing out where we are now
Going back to drawing perspective we can sketch out what life looks like right now.
If your life was a picture, what is in your foreground? What are the things that feel biggest for you? When we say ‘biggest’ we don’t mean importance but size, what takes up the most space?
Similarly, what things feel smallest and would be in the background or hidden behind the things in the foreground?
What do you notice about this picture?
How does it compare to what matters to you?
Is everything in perspective?
Is what matters to you taking up the space you want it to take up?
If in need of perspective break glass
Pausing, conversations, context switching, carving out time to reflect or sketch out where we are and find some perspective can all help, but what about those moments when we're totally caught up in something?
If we know that we are prone to losing perspective, what can we use to bring us perspective quickly and effortlessly?
It could be a screen background, a photo on your desk, a tattoo, a note in your phone, a regular notification. What would remind you of the bigger picture, of what matters to you?
All things great and small
Perspective provides us with awareness, it allows us to step back as much as it allows us to zoom in on what really matters to us.
There will be times when perspective comes totally out of the blue.
However there are opportunities for us to create our own space for perspective. Whether they are instant reminders to shine a light on our tunnel vision, simply pausing to zoom out momentarily, or cultivating space and time to sketch out what our personal landscape looks like, perspective is always within our reach.
With this perspective we can recalibrate to ensure we have space for what really matters to us and can take the steps to bring what we want into the foreground.
When you feel perspective, what is different?
Who or what brings that perspective?
If we all lived with more perspective what would life be like?
