Look, See and Envision
How often have you heard people say, “I must have missed it. I looked but didn’t see it”. During my Kabbalah class last night I provided each class member with the famous illusion in which the brain switches between seeing a young girl and an old woman (or "wife" and "mother in law"). This figure had been adapted from an original concept that was popular throughout the world on trading and puzzle cards of the long past.
When I tallied what my class members saw it was weighted 3:1 in favour of the ‘old hag’. Does this mean that my less than scientific survey demonstrates that about ¾ of the world population always see the cup half-empty rather than half-full.
It was also noted that you couldn’t see two separate impressions of one whole at the very same time. This is significant because in life we generally get only one chance to ‘see’ things, because within a microsecond we are onto the next ‘thing’ and the next and so on. And if we are not conscious that our disposition is geared towards negativity, then each ‘look’ just reinforces the previous default negative impression of life, outcomes, people, and of course, ourselves.
There is another interesting phenomenon – seeing but not seeing. It’s not that we aren’t looking, but that the seeing doesn’t even register. Our minds are very much elsewhere and though the biological tools that allow the brain to register sight are functioning, consciousness and mindfulness, soul attributes, are not.
So here are the two challenges we face: Firstly, the tendency to look and only see the ‘old hag’ instead of the ‘pretty girl’. Secondly, looking and not seeing at all – at least not brain-registering what the eyes are looking at.
But there is a third stage of sight – viz. insight. Beyond looking and seeing is the gift of envisioning. Some people have such a wonderful sense of vision - the capacity to look, and to see but also to reconstruct reality by seeing the lines that connect the future dots. This the characteristic of the visionary- the one who truly changes people, society and the world (apologies to Star Trekkies).
The visionary utilizes the most spiritual human aptitude – imagination – the feature that allows the inner soul to project beyond the ‘now’, but which relates directly to the ‘now’. Moses, Da Vinci, Einstein, the Rebbe – all were visionaries of the highest order (together, of course, with Homer!).
So ask yourself: do you just look or do you see? Do you see or do you also envision? These are not simply gifts but also skills – skills that are sharpened through the practice of consciousness and mindfulness – what Kabbalah spirituality calls Kavanah.
I will look you up. Er…no, I will see you soon. Better still, let me envision you in the white light of your inner truth and giftedness – a beautiful projection. Scottie, beam me up.