Perspectives

We live in a world with many where there seem to be many "truths" and absolutes. It's wrong to steal. Giving is good. Drugs are bad. But these and all the other "rules" we live our lives by are not real, they aren't truths and depending on whose perspective you take will depend on your interpretation of a situation.

It's wrong to steal... except if you're doing it to feed your starving family?

Giving is good... except if you're a politician looking for votes?

Drugs are bad... except if you're the one selling them and making money?

Earth is an enormous place, but from our perspective it's a city or a town or a street or our house. It's the places we go and the people we spend our time with. It's not that big really!

I tried an exercise yesterday where I lay on the floor and looked around, getting a closer view of the perspective my 15-month daughter would get... or perhaps the view our cats get. I can tell you, it's a way different view from down there. The kitchen counters are unreachable!

I was also reading yesterday about how we accept different norms in our life. For example, we stand on the curbside and a bus passes us within two feet of our nose, and we have no issue. If we were standing in an open field and the same thing happened, we would feel it was too close for comfort.

We get used to so much, and we see our world from one perspective... our own. Sometimes it's useful to look at the world differently, shake things up and question what we do, why we do it, and whether we should continue doing it.

It's often said that "the world is a small place", but I don't think that came from an astronaut.