Picture This: What Do You See?

Family photos!  Vacation photos!  What do you notice about yourself when viewing or sharing photos?  I find that I get drawn in by the images... and, truthfully, I don't always fully listen to or remember the stories.  (Sorry to those who have shared their pix and stories!)  Instead, I notice that I retreat inward, create an alternative story about what I am viewing, and wonder what it was like to have lived that moment.  I enjoy the captured smiles, the laughter, and the Gift of Story:  memories and experiences frozen in time.

Let me share this first picture from a recent vacation.  What catches your attention?  What stories come to mind: Memories relived from your own experience?  Reminisces from other people?  Moments from television or a movie?  Or, do you make up your own version, an image of an 'island paradise'?

Waikiki Beach: a winter scene

I wonder if we are born Storytellers.  It seems that we add what we know or believe to the initial experience or image.  Then, assumptions and meaning are mixed in as we try to interpret and understand.

The baseline snapshot becomes a starting point for our fertile minds: the Story may grow in many different directions and dimensions very quickly.  It is as if Ready-Set-Go blends into one action as we traverse the varied dimensions of fact and truth, imagination and dreams, hope and aspiration... and more!
 

Same winter scene: from a new angle... What is different?

This second photo was taken on the same wintry day in Oahu as the first photo, but only a few minutes and several yards apart:

• The first photo:  a single view, facing westward;
• The second photo:  a panoramic view, facing north but capturing elements of west, north, and east.

Both show the same relative location but create entirely different images of a Waikiki moment.

I wonder, as we look around us at the places we visit and the people we encounter:

• How do we test what we are seeing and experiencing?
• What happens when we change our perspective?
• In what ways do we listen to and/or accept competing or differing views? 
• Are we willing to check out conclusions that may offer a distorted view of the facts?

Public 'Jenga' competition: choosing what facts
to pull, hoping the structure won't crash

I watched with fascination as four adults played Jenga with oversized wood blocks.  Each person carefully tested various pieces to determine which piece could be safely removed.  The actions of removing the piece and placing it on top of the structure were both important to maintain a balanced structure.

This reminded me of our Dialogue practice:

• Seeking opportunities to test assumptions.
• Inviting Self and Others to check out meanings and conclusions.
• Hoping that realities and relationships can remain balanced as we explore and discover new meaning.
• Accepting that we learn from mishaps, mistakes and falling structures.
• Holding lightly and with sacredness the experiences that bind us.  

May this week provide Jenga-moments of testing, risking, and learning!

Larry Gardepie
Dialogue San Diego Consulting