I'm writing this post on Election Night. I haven't looked at any results yet. I want to get some thoughts out before the emotions cloud my judgement.
When I was learning photography, I was taught to focus a lens by turning it all the way to both extremes before finding clarity somewhere in the middle. I've been thinking about this as a metaphor for finding clarity in life these days. It speaks to my Libra qualities of balance-seeking.
I have been coasting along in my narrow range of focus assuming I was at my sharpest, clearest point. It's easy to ignore to edges, believing there is nothing there for you, both in life and in lens focusing. And it's true, there's probably not. I'm guessing there are very few people who actually find clarity all the way at the edge. But it's also true that you cannot appreciate your point of focus as a conscious choice until you allow yourself to really see the whole range.
I came to this metaphor and realization first in regards to my professional aspirations, thanks to the gift of space I have been given this year from my career. And so I have been turning my lens to the edges of the realm of possibility, gaining perspective to my focus that I didn't have before.
But it has also helped me gain perspective in regards to parenting. (Check out Free To Learn by Peter Gray. It will stretch you and then sharpen your focus on the choices you are making.)
And then there's politics. This chapter in our country's history is ugly and embarrassing. "Both sides" have been so hatefully accusing of the other: stereotyping and name-calling without ever stopping to ask, listen, and learn. What if we used our lens to reach to the edges and and truly seek understanding as opposed to coasting along in our narrow range of focus, assuming there's nothing else out there for us?
No matter what the results of this election are, I will continue to seek balance by stretching, not narrowing, my field of vision.
