What Sort of Person Are You?

Hello! Let's talk a little "blog business" before I dive right in to today's post. I titled this blog, "It's All in Your Head," because I didn't want to limit myself in what I talk about, or do. I wanted there to be room for creativity, thoughts about my faith and life, space to process the joys and hardships of motherhood, and anything else that comes along. I have many different interests, and lots of thoughts. In an attempt to organize things around here a little better, I've created  tabs/picture labels for the different parts of this blog... Photo Friday, Things That Kick Ass, and now one called "Perspective."  The tabs/labels are listed on the top left-hand side of the blog for easy access. So, if you're stopping to by see a photo, watch a video, and/or want to know what I think about something, hopefully it will now be easier to find what you're looking for. 

This post today, will fall under "Perspective," and I'll be working on going back to label other posts that fall into that category from the past year. Here's what the new "Perspective" tab looks like.

So without further ado, here's my "Perspective" today...

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Last summer I read The Chronicles of Narnia book series for the first time. Immediately, I asked myself why I waited so long. To me, anyone who can make the profound, simple, is brilliant. That's just what C.S.Lewis did with those books. Tears filled my eyes in many parts, and at the end of each book I was left with a sense of awe in what I had just read. I guess you could say that this book series was not just a group of good stories to me, it was an experience. I will never forget reading them for the first time. I plan to read them again.

There were many phrases and quotes in each of the seven books, that stuck out to me. Highlight marks filled a lot of the pages. There are certain quotes, though, that I don't even have to look back at my books to remember. Some thoughts and ideas were so profound that they have literally jumped off the pages of the book and are forever ingrained in my mind and heart.

So, here I am a year later, still thinking on, and unraveling one of my favorite quotes from the series, and I wanted to share it with you. This is from The Magician's Nephew. Background: A group of the characters are in the same place watching the same scene unfold, yet experiencing it very differently. This quote refers to how one of the characters is seeing what is going, but isn't really seeing.

“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.”

Internally, this last year, I have felt a shift in the way that I see many things. There was a time when I didn't pay much attention to others in the world in my thoughts, when I believed voting republican was the only correct way to be involved in politics, when I didn't consider some one's story when I reacted to their behavior, when I judged those who were homeless, and when I assumed that America was God's gift to the world..the list could go on, really. I'm almost embarrassed to say those things.

...Then Osama Bin Laden was killed, and something about that rocked my core. It's possible that ideas and changes were brewing inside me already, but I distinctly remember a shift when I heard the news of his death. After the terrorist attacks of September 11th happened, many extremists celebrated the deaths of our citizens, and thought that they were vindicated. As an American experiencing the devastation of that day, the celebration of the death of our loved ones, was painful... it probably even bordered on feeling evil to us. Then just shy of 10 years later, Bin Laden is found and killed, and what do many some Americans do? They celebrate his death in the same way they hated others celebrating our deaths. Shouting in the streets, dancing stupidly, and posting ridiculous things about how awesome it was Bin Laden was dead. I was angry, and frustrated, and said to those close to me, "this is why people hate Americans." Truthfully, in those moments of watching people dance in the streets, dehumanizing Bin Laden, all while waving a flag, and praising God, I was disgusted. I was appalled. Did we not remember our pain at the death of our citizens? Did we forget that being mocked in the midst of extreme hurt, felt like an entire tub of salt had been poured in our wounds? Why, then, would we turn around and do the same to someone else? ...My mind stirred.

Insert The Chronicles of Narnia just a few months later, and all my questions and frustrations I felt about the reaction to Bin Laden's death, politics, the way those in some Christian communities treat homosexuals, and the complexities of war, were in my face again, upon reading that quote. Then, I realized the truth in that quote... No matter where you are standing when you see something happen, the sort of person you are is what determines how you truly look at a situation. In that moment, I said to myself, "Jessica, you need to be the sort of person that sees." I want to be the kind of person who considers a different perspective. I want to ask what I'm missing when I'm stuck looking at an issue from only one side? What if I moved a little to left or the right, would I see the same scene unfolding differently? The answer is yes. But, what if I did more than that, what if I changed my lens entirely, from the inside out. That would really determine how I saw something, because truly seeing things I've always seen in a different light, is a reflection of who I am and becoming. Man, that quote is so powerful.

Through conversations, and other books that have challenged my thinking, I am continually in the midst of this kind of transformation. My lens is being changed. I want to see humanity differently. I'm grateful to live in America, but I did not choose that for myself. Just like someone in the middle east did not choose to be born there. Even Osama Bin Laden. He was just as human as I am, and so are his followers. We're not better than each other, and that's new perspective for me... We all have stories, backgrounds, and experiences that mold us. That goes for people closer in proximity to me, as well. They also have stories, backgrounds, and experiences that mold them, and I am no better. Be it politics (which are so divisive and out of control right now), religion, or opinions regarding things we are passionate about, living in an "us" versus "them" world is ugly.  I'm trying to change my view and see certain things a new way. From me that currently includes struggling with war ever being the answer, to politics mattering, and with American pride and allegiance. I'm trying to change my angle and see things a new way.

What are things that you want to try and see differently?

The real question is though, "What sort of person are you?" That is the root. Are you willing to see something in a new and unique way. You'll never be able to shift, if you aren't willing to go deep and see where you're at to begin with. That's about who you are. Are you stuck seeing things the way they look on the surface, or are you willing to be the sort of person who sees beyond? I want so desperately to be someone who sees, who is deeply aware of the connections we all share with each other rather than the differences. I want to consider others' situations before making a snap judgment, and I want to be constantly looking for truth.

What do you see and hear from where you're standing? More importantly, though, what sort of person are you?

Thank you, C.S. Lewis.