Last week was about how messiness is often the price of greatness. This week is about what you see in a painting, a person, or a situation.

Take a moment and look at the image.  What do you see?  What do you notice?  The painting is called “Wheatfield with Cypresses” and was painted by Vincent Van Gogh.  When you look at the image you might notice a variety of things.  You might notice it is an oil painting.  You might notice the large trees.  You might notice the billowing clouds.  You might notice the soft swirl that created the wheat field.  If you’re my daughter Alice you notice the collection of the rocks/bushes/small trees to the left of the painting and how it looks like a rock monster.  I’m guessing you didn’t see the rock monster.  However, if you were a young Pokémon fan, maybe you would have seen the rock monster too.  I’d imagine that’s not exactly what Van Gogh was going for, but he still is bringing her joy 😉

What does this have to do with anything?  Every situation, every conversation, every self-reflection is a painted canvas for us to observe, and we will all see different things.  What we see is often shaped by our experiences and our context.  The trick is that as we grow older we get more set in our ways and often lose the ability to see the wide variety of things we once could when we were kids, like hidden rock monsters.  When you are presented with a challenge, what do you see?  Do you see the obstacles and all the things that will stop you?  Do you see the opportunities and the different ways you can succeed?  Whether you see mainly obstacles or mainly opportunities, drastically changes what you see.  When you meet others do you see their flaws first or their potential?  When you look at yourself do you see your beauty or your shortcomings? 

The challenge:  What will you see in the canvases (people and situations) placed in front of you?  Will you see light and love?  Will you see darkness and despair?  Will you see all these things and more?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry