About a month ago, I was back down South visiting my mum. I went on a walk that I’d done a million times before and saw a pine tree twisted in a way that I’d never seen it before. I then started looking around and saw more things afresh, which I think is a lovely little metaphor. It’s largely what these musings are supposed to be about. It’s not about trying to change objectively what’s happening, but creating a subjective change that recognises the beauty of life, that helps me to see life in a more positive and hopeful way.
So that’s what this post is going to be on: the wonder of shifting perspectives and learning from different interpretations.
That’s not to say that feeling like you’re already viewing things the ‘right’ way isn’t really nice. I recently read a book - the first Book of Dust, a spin-off from Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy - which has illustrations dotted about. There was a particular scene where I was thinking of how things would look and then I turned the page to see a picture that near enough matched my imagination. It was strangely validating, despite not really mattering.
But anyway, that’s a tangent. The wonder of shifting perspectives and learning from different interpretations, that’s what we’re talking about here.
There’s this fantastic podcast that my dad got me listening to a few years back. It’s called Everything is Alive and the first episode is about a coke can. I say ‘about’ a coke can, but actually it was an interview of the coke can (also not an actual coke can, just a voice actor pretending to be one). That’s the entire premise of the show, the same host interviewing different inanimate objects, which in this instance was - and I’ve said these words too many times now - a coke can. From what I remember, it was funny and surprisingly heartfelt.
Since then, I’ve managed to relate to and learn lessons from a subway seat, a pumpkin and even a vending machine. On a side note, if I can connect to Martin, the paper towel dispenser, then I don’t really understand why discrimination exists. But again, tangent.
A couple of years ago, I did a couple of editions of ‘Ask A Stranger’ posts, where I would go up to random people in the street and ask each stranger the same three questions. Inevitably, someone would ask me for clarification over a certain question, but I told them that wasn’t allowed, that they just had to answer the question as they interpreted it. I’m really glad that I did that because it lent itself to adding more variety to the answers and gave a subtle insight into the inner workings of the person’s mind. It actually became part of the fun, not truly being able to predict what people were going to say.
After the interview, I would ask them for a photo and encourage them to look how they feel. That was intriguing too. Of course, not everyone felt comfortable being fully honest in that sense, especially when it comes to photos, given people have been encouraged to push their teeth out in a weird version of a smile as they scream cheese (why’s that a thing?) since they were a small child. That being said, it felt powerful when that vulnerability occurred and it helped to further illustrate who that person was in that moment.
For a long time, I use to think that I was just an unhappy person. I now know that when I’m easily irritable or I’m demotivated or I’m self-critical that that’s just how I think when I’m tired and/or struggling mentally. But when you spend a long time in that space, it’s easy to view those characteristics as being who you are because that’s all you can really remember.
On the flipside, when I feel comfortable and safe, that’s what enables me to be the most me. And who is me? I am adaptable, positive, happy, friendly, patient, funny, supportive, empathetic, creative, motivated, caring, responsible, reliable, resilient, determined and more.
I was about to make a joke about also being humble, but - and excuse my language here - fuck that. Let me be proud of myself without needing to knock myself down in some way.
I hope you’ve managed to wrangle a couple of useful pieces of insight from this article, even though I haven’t explicitly stated them. And I won’t explicitly state them because it's your interpretation that matters. Instead, I’ll finish off with a question for you to answer in your own time.
Where might you be viewing the world in a way that doesn’t help you so much and how can you shift your perspective? Are there small changes you can make in your life, could you ask for more help from those people in your life that enable you to be more you (and get rid of those people who limit you), do you need a break to help reset?
I don’t know the answer, but given enough time and effort, I know that you can figure it out. You got this.
Happy voluntravelling,
The Voluntraveller
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