more perspective

What came first: the chicken, or the egg?

It’s an age old debate. This week, I’ve asked dozens of students to argue their side of this debate. I’ve heard stubborn conversations, valid reasonings, and heated arguments. It seems to be a question that quickly divides a group faster than you’d think.

One answer, though, didn’t oppose either side. Instead, this student stood in the middle. 

The grey area. The in between. 

At first, I thought he just didn’t want to pick a side because he was unsure. His reasoning for the middle was not one of indecisiveness, however. It was one of perspective. 

This student, whose name is Wesley, blew me away with his words. 

“It’s a circle,” he said,”We don’t know where it begins or ends, because it’s all based on perspective.” 

Perspective is a little weird. We think one thing, and then we are given an experience that changes what we think. We think we love strawberry ice cream the best, and then we try huckleberry for the first time, and suddenly strawberry takes the backseat. (Side note: If you haven’t had huckleberry ice cream, you need to.) 

I vividly remember the day when my perspective on chicken sandwiches changed. Growing up, the only chicken sandwiches I was exposed to were those fried chicken patties that we all dread for school lunch. Then, my mom took my friend Demi and I to a Chick-Fil-A. Needless to say, the number one sandwich was a game changer for my perspective on chicken sandwiches. 

In all seriousness, we each have had experiences that drastically changed our perspective on life. Moving to a new town, losing a friend, having a serious accident, getting married, having a child, heading off to college...the list goes on forever. 

Experiences change our perspective. Experiences shape our perspective.

All of us have had different experiences. Therefore, we all have slightly (or very) different perspectives. I think we often find ourselves seeking out those with similar perspectives. It’s natural, and it’s comfortable. We never learn from those that are similar to us, though. We learn from those that have different experiences. Those people have have different knowledge to share. It’s not because we don’t have lots of knowledge ourselves, but rather we just haven’t experienced something that they have.

Let’s learn from each other’s experiences.

It’s not always easy to seek out those people to learn from, but we all have something to learn from every person we encounter. Their knowledge sometimes can radically oppose what we know, but every once in awhile it’s time for a change in perspective. Perspective is not concrete, and it does not hold universal truth. Regardless of that, we should strive to see more into others’ worlds, and others’ perspectives.

Thank you, Wesley, for reminding me of the importance of perspective this week. 

There’s more to perspective. 

There’s more to it all.