See It As You Must

I remember watching a movie more than a few years ago; I believe it was called Vantage Point. The entire movie was just one scene in which there had been an attempt on the life of I can’t remember who. It wasn’t important.

The point of the movie was that the same scene kept repeating again and again, only that each time, it was shown from a different point of view…or vantage point. It could have been from a cellphone, or a photo from another angle, etc. It was interesting how what people saw as having transpired had everything to do on where they were standing, what they chose to focus on, or through which lens it was being seen.

I was thinking that this is exactly what we humans do all the time. It’s a good metaphor on how I may remember something that happened differently than someone else. This is also true in photography. Ten people may take a photo of the same subject, and none of the pictures will be exactly the same. It all has to do with the eye of the photographer. It’s all about perspective.

I will hear what I hear depending on what is happening within me. Depending of where I am in my emotional state. If I am upset, hurt, feeling insecure, or sad, I may interpret something I’m told or I’ll see it completely different than how it really was or how the speaker might have meant it. I will most likely take offense, feel I’ve been wronged somehow. The reverse is also true. If I’m feeling good, having a good time, or full of confidence, even direct insults will not register. I think I may actually edit phrases, nuances, expressions to fit my emotional state.

A few years ago, I was playing tennis against a very annoying woman; or so I chose to think at that time. I admit I wasn’t feeling confident and was getting my butt kicked, so she must have been on my nerves. Of course, I was in a low moment and tennis is a very mental game. So it happened that during one of the breaks, I sarcastically told her something like, “I love how you gloat after every point”; it was meant to be an “ego deflator” sort of insult. She truly was a bit on the annoying side.

However, to my surprise, she took it as a compliment! Honestly, I was relieved because I immediately felt a little like an ass for having said it! I was reacting to my emotional state. She was feeling great, she was winning, she was happy and full of confidence. She heard what she wanted to hear and she reacted in line with her emotional state too. I remember thinking that Maya Angelou was right when she said “We are only as blind as we want to be”. Is interesting how I have always remembered that moment. I believe I learned something that day.