We are frequently advised to “get some perspective.” “Look at the larger picture”, “see the forest rather than the tree.” But the complexity of exactly what that perspective may entail is ignored.
I may see a fine landscape as simply a beautiful vision. But there are other lenses. A developer may lay out a new housing tract, road, or factory. A geologist may search for signs of minerals. A historian imagines the human presence in the past. A general scouts for advantageous military positions. And on and on.
I am usually the simple beautiful vision guy, although I sometimes slip into other modes. My favorite, and one I cultivate, is to see as an artist. This lets me carefully study lines, shadows, colors. Review balance and selection and focus. What should the imagined picture convey? And then flip through treatments _ Durer, Rembrandt, Monet, Cézanne _ and media. A wonderful exercise.
I find a similar technique useful with how I see my daily life. How do I imagine my primary self today? Am I an old man, a roving intelligence, a homeowner, a parent, a taxpayer, whatever? All true, all incomplete, all useful.
In all that, I am happy to take walks, remember my life, evaluate my present, plan for the future. And, if I am lucky, just for a little while, see as an artist.
HuntingtonHarborThoughts 