You see what you look for

Glasses A few months back, my aunt traveled from her native Louisiana to visit my family.  As we drove from the airport towards my New Hampshire home, her eyes became large as they devoured the magnificent landscape.  The brilliant golds and reds of a New England autumn was an unexpected and exciting experience for her.

Later that day, I decided to take a walk in the woods to find some vibrant, pristine leaves that she could press and take back home.  I tossed on my barn coat, grabbed a paper sack, and headed down a well-worn path overflowing with recently fallen leaves. 

As I walked along, with my eyes fixated on the ground attentively searching for the perfect leaf, all I could see were decay and various shades of brown.  I could not believe that in an area overflowing with foliage (and acorns), I couldn't find one leaf worthy of display.  But after about ten minutes of looking, something strange occurred.

All of a sudden, and to my surprise, the forest floor started popping with Crayola color; burnt orange, brick red, lemon yellow.  The leaves seemed to be rising airily from the ground, as if I were wearing 3-D glasses.  It was an extraordinarily arousing and educational experience.  My old eyes suddenly became new again, as my brain adjusted to its new environment and child-like instructions.

The English biologist and politician John Lubbock wrote, "What we see depends mainly on what we look for.” Where you are and what you attend to conditions what you see.  If you look for beauty, ideas and meaning, you'll find it.  If you look for data, statistics and shortcomings, you'll find them.

If you want to see new, you have to experience new.  But it may take some time for your old eyes to adjust to the new world and your new intentions.  

So, I'd revise Lubbock's words slightly to, "We eventually see what we look for."  Stay focused and be patient. The answers will appear.

Posted January 12, 2010
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Comments

Randy Bosch

Tom, great post. "The rare moment is not the moment when there is something worth looking at but the moment when we are capable of seeing".
Joseph Wood Krutch, "The Desert Year".

Posted by: Randy Bosch | January 12, 2010 at 06:55 PM

Jon P

Hi Tom,

This reminds me of the things that Michael Gerber says in his books, and also the things that Deepak Chopra says. When you set your intentions, the universe will align itself. We see what we want to find, because in many ways we create it out of nothing and the means appear. This may sound like a bunch of new-age hokum, but what great business or great institution was not just a pipe dream at one time?

Posted by: Jon P | January 13, 2010 at 09:02 AM

Randy Bosch

Tom was addressing seeing something of great value that was not what he was looking for -- one must be careful:
"Do not confuse correlation with causality- EVER". (Attributed to Nassim Taleb)

Posted by: Randy Bosch | January 13, 2010 at 11:12 AM

Jon P

Jeez, I'm not saying that wishing for something will make it instantly appear. But, as the post points out, if you persist in looking for beauty or meaning, you'll find it. Just as, if you concentrate on the negative or the prosaic, that's what you'll encounter.

Our intentions do have a lot to do with what materializes in our lives. As quantum physicists proved in early 20th century experiments, energy waves behave differently when being observed than when not observed. Which means we affect the physical world merely through our observation of it.

Posted by: Jon P | January 16, 2010 at 10:43 PM

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