Perspective

As most of you know I am a photographer...Early one morning while sitting in my back yard area, camera in hand, I began to look up and found myself thinking about how different things looked from that perspective. This led to walking through my yard with my lens pointed upward or downward or in front or behind and adjusting the focus to each perspective. I found that the same thing looked quite different if I were laying on my belly on the ground as opposed to laying on my back, or sitting in a chair looking upward or outward. It also depended on where I was standing and which direction I was looking from...the same item, scene, image changed as my perspective shifted.
This shifting camera perspective started me thinking about my perspective on life. I have been told many times though out my life that I 'view life through rose colored glasses'. I would definitely say that I am a 'glass half full' type person, an optimist in most situations...I think this is due to my perspective on life. I thought about where that perspective came from, how I reached the conclusions I have reached. I kept thinking that no matter what one's situation, circumstances, challenges might be it is all about the perspective from which one views them...this is what makes life wonderful...or not.
I remembered a quote from one of my favorite books, Illusions by Richard Bach...

"Perspective- Use it or Lose It. If you turned to this page, you're forgetting that what is going on around you is not reality. Think about that."

I did think about that...I thought about what 'reality' really is, how we create our own reality, how we live in that reality...and how our perspective changes our reality with time. I grew up on the California desert, an 'only child' of sorts (both my older brothers were married by the time I was born), the child of 'older' parents (Dad was 56 and Mom 40 when I was born), we attended church regularly, my mom's family was close-knit yet lived miles apart, my dad's family lived close by but weren't 'close', my dad and both brothers served in the military...all of these things and many more played a part in the formation of my basic belief system, as has living in the southeast, being married, being a mom, being a grandmom. Each time my life undergoes some change...my perspective changes. As I grow older...my perspective changes. If I lose something or someone...my perspective changes. If I see someone suffering...my perspective changes. As I move through life I believe it is important to look at things from varying angles, different vantage points...to listen to others when they express their opinions, share their fears, sorrows, joys, experiences...and to keep my own thoughts positive, and my words encouraging. To speak from my perspective and also try to see things from the perspective of others.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
Life is all in the perspective you take on it. ~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie
People only see what they are prepared to see. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

PHOTO OF THE DAY: 'Looking Up"