There are two sides to every view
This post, on two sides to every view, was inspired by a quote I came across today.
I was looking for quotes to add to my pinterest View quotes board, when I came across a quote by Adriana Grande.
Hollywood hills sign
Why did this quote catch my attention? After all, it’s not very profound, is it?
It made me think about the fact that we see the word ‘Hollywood’ on the sign up in the hills outside Los Angeles, yet perhaps we never consider what you can see from that sign if you are up in those hills!
And, of course, it also brings to mind fake news and other things like photoshopping photos so that what we see isn’t real.
This then brought me to think about some of my own photos.
Like these. Photos of Durham Cathedral. One of favourite places in the world. The first two photos below are taken from angles that most people would see the Cathedral from – down below.
Durham Cathedral seen from the river
Durham Cathedral Cloisters
But a few summers ago, I did something I’d never done before. I climbed the 325 steps to the top of the Cathedral Tower.
And I got a totally different view!
View of the river and Cathedral from the top
Peephole view of Durham from Cathedral
What about you? Do you have any photos on your phone showing the same thing /place from a different view?
Or do you have photos of the same event/ place taken from different angles/distances or at different times?
Here’s another quote that I came across (I didn’t discover the author of this one).
“Enjoy views, not selfies.”
When I watch people taking selfies, I often think about the fact that they are not enjoying the view or appreciating their surroundings – just posing and showing off most of the time.
I followed some instructions to work on mindfulness the other day. Sitting at my desk, I gazed out of my window for about five minutes. (How often do we do that?)
Then, I ‘came’ back to my present, my position and thought about the things that had gone through my mind while I’d been gazing, what I’d noticed, how I’d felt. It was a great exercise and one I plan to repeat.
I’d suggest that it could be something you could ask your students to do for ‘homework’ – perhaps the night before the next class (if you’re back in the classroom) or the five minutes before they connect for their online lesson.
I’ve written on the theme of ‘view’ before:
In these times which are forcing us to slow down, let’s appreciate our ‘view’, even if it may be restricted to a few square metres. It’s an opportunity to view things differently and to appreciate them more.
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