Brass Telescope On Stand
circa 1920
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Unless I stay alert, it's easy to assume what I see is that which
everyone sees. A point of view, when unexamined, seems so obviously
the way it is for everyone. In fact, upon closer
inspection it's equally obvious any point of view is totally
unique. My point of view is a function of where I'm
standing ie the platform from which I'm looking. The
thing about any point of view is it's just a point of view,
a particular vantage point each of us has, given our own particular
experience of life. Everyone has one. Having
ears,
we all experience hearing. Yet given our own particular hearing, we
each appreciate music differently. Having a tongue, we all
experience taste. Yet given our own particular taste, we each
appreciate wine
differently.
The trap inherent in any point of view is like this.
There ain't no such thing as bad music or
good music. There's only music you don't
like and music you like. There ain't no such thing
as bad
wine
or good
wine.
There's only
wine
you don't like and
wine
you like. The emperor isn't wearing any clothes.
Even more pertinent, there's only music you don't know
and music you know. There's only
wine
you don't know and
wine
you know. For the audiophile, it's the music not yet
known that's alluring. For the oenophile, it's the
wine
not yet known that's alluring. When you look at it
this way, you see the most useful aspect of a point of view is the
aspect that's most often overlooked. The most useful aspect of a
point of view is not what it sees but rather what it
doesn't see. The most useful aspect of a point of view
is not what it sees but rather what it hides.
It takes something bold and brassy, standing in your point of view,
to confront what standing in your point of view hides from your
point of view. It takes enormous courage to confront it's just a
point of view: not necessarily fixed, not necessarily
written in blood, not necessarily chiseled in stone. It's life
altering to confront the points of view I've carefully built up in
order to manage life and to survive, are also screens hiding,
interfering with an expanded, calmer vision and a fuller future.
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