Reflections and Seeing Things In New Ways

We’ve been settling into our new home and I’m loving living right on the water. The sky here in the Netherlands is often moody and busy with beautiful shapes and colours, and I love the way that the water reflects and repeats all the sky beauty down at ground level. While the architecture in Utrecht Binnestad is old and full of character, history, and charm, I can’t say that I love the modern post-2000 build architecture in our neighbourhood. But a few days ago my son called me to come see a cygnet on the canal. Because of my vision impairment, I use my phone camera to be able to see things like birds on the water. While photographing the bird, the water offered me a new and delightful angle on the local buildings that’s completely changed how I see them…

Now I really love swans and ducks – my husband can attest to the very high ratio of swan and duck photos that I’ve taken in every country we’ve ever lived! But this time I was surprised to find that it was the colours, lines, and shapes of the buildings, reflected in the water, that really captured me…

Is it art or is it life? (It’s always both!)

• When last did you allow yourself to be surprised by a change in your own perspective? What was that like? Did you like anything about the experience?
• Many of us hardly ever change our perspectives once we are adults. What do you think prevents us from changing how we see things?
• Would you like to be more open to changing how you see something? What would that do for you?
• How could you remove some of the obstacles to seeing things differently, or actively open yourself to seeing things differently? Do you need to zoom in and get a closer look? Who in your life might have a different way of seeing the thing you’d like to see differently? What or who could offer you a kind of mirror to reflect back to you so you can look at what you see and how you see, and possibly find new ways to see?