I am a Star Trek fan; from the very first episodes in the 60s through Next Gen, Deep Space, Voyager and movies.
One of the many things that intrigues me about this Sci-Fi series is the various aspects they display about daily life. A favorite episode in Next Generation is from season 6 titled “Timescape”. Picard, Laforge, Data, and Troi return to the Enterprise via a shuttlecraft. They had been away to a conference. As they approach the Enterprise they find it and a Romulan ship frozen in time in what appears to be a battle.
They find a way to board the ships and by first appearance, the Romulans are taking the Federation ship hostage and it looks as if they are killing some of the crew.
Ever calm Captain Picard and his shuttlecraft crew find a way to turn time back a few seconds which shows them exactly what led to each presentation. In doing so, they see their perspective of what imaged happened is quite different than what actually happened.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could freeze time to take a step back and then rewind to view all the details of a scene from different angles?
But, we can’t. I was talking with a teacher who works with kids before and after school. She was telling me how she has explained to her class why the 2nd person is the one that is ‘caught’. “The activity that triggered the event catches my attention” she explains, “but what I see is the response.”
Several people can view the same event, and each come away with a different story because of the angle they viewed, their personal beliefs, and what they were doing/thinking at the time. Everyone is right – from their perspective.
Several years ago some friends and I were looking at this picture I had hanging on a wall.
Each of us saw something different: I saw a parent praying over a child, another noticed the hand the man has on his son’s back because that is how her husband prays over their sons, the other woman noticed that guardian angel at the window (something I didn’t even notice until she pointed it out).
Each of us looked at the same picture, each saw something different.
How can you change your perspective about a situation you are facing?
- 1. Stop, take a deep breath, clear your mind.
- 2. Look around. Is there a piece you are missing or have not considered?
- 3. Ask others for their thoughts.
Everything is not as it seems. A new perspective may bring new meaning. You can’t turn back time, but you can step back and look again. What do you see from your new perspective?