Are We Looking at 3-D?

Spring uncovers my natural curiosity. Small buds on trees, new birds in the neighborhood, rainbows….and flowers. From tiny violets to luscious magnolias.

I walk and observe. The wind moves what I’m seeing. Sun and clouds create different angles to make me look closer. Neither video or still-shot can replicate my observations.They only show a narrow view whether I do a handstand to get the shot or not.

Curiosity for nature got me thinking about people. I have spent a lifetime dissecting who people are. When I was a child toys were scarce so my wind-up toy became watching people. It was readily available and I didn’t have to share or have it taken away from me. When I couldn’t see I listened behind closed doors and corners. I tried to piece together what I saw and heard.

People are tangled, intricate structures in 3-D. Different directions of wind blows and different angles appear. Myriads of forms shrink or expand us.

We alter, transform, sometimes disappear from sight. It’s impossible to remain static.

I watched a 3-D printer in action and it’s mind-boggling. If only we could decide what we want ourselves to be, program so it creates “Me”. Even if it was possible, we have such a biased view of ourselves it would be morbid and probably hilarious to see what the end product was.

Just imagine the “Me” as a day, week or year…even an hour goes by! We’d have to reprogram ourselves over and over. Plop— out comes an outdated version in the moment.

And the “Should” of the program would have us constantly reaching for a fabricated “Me” that didn’t or couldn’t possibly exist in the first place. It’s never a fixed state.

I read a translated Rumi poem and I laughed. It’s so true.

I thought I had self-control,

so I regretted times I didn’t.

With that considering over, the one thing I know

is I don’t know who I am. 

                               Rumi, Unseen Rain, Quatrains of Rumi, Edited by John Moyne, Coleman Barks,Threshold Books, 1986, p.#10

Our ancestors, cultures, our languages, genders combined with our joys and dark times give facets of who we are—-impossible to dissect. Think of what we’ve blocked from our memories of the past. We can’t see the whole picture. I’m actually glad we can’t. It might freeze our growth.

We unconsciously create overlapping textures when we think we know someone. Unless we try to peel back some of those layers we’re stuck with a photo view.

It’s matters. We need time to revisit what we know about others and ourselves. It gives us a chance to push back onwhat we know and challenge our biases.

We need silence. Like a walk in the neighborhood. It doesn’t do justice to others or ourselves to think we can snap that picture and look at it at our leisure and know for certain what we saw. Conversation is needed. Our “Programmed” view needs a chance to expand. Not an easy ask of ourselves. It asks us to step back. Question what we think we know. Humble ourselves so we can absorb new information.

I have a grandson who is four. Society hasn’t blinded him yet. I think he sees things and people in 3-D. He doesn’t see things like a photo. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t like to have himself photographed. Maybe he knows the “Cheese” only shows what the photographer programed as we took the picture. Not him.

Maybe that’s why we want to pick a flower. We want to assure ourselves it is what we think. We’re surprised when there’s an ant inside or a petal falls off in our hand. We’ve killed it by removing it from it’s place.

We can kill our ability to know someone or ourselves. We take a snip and we think we’ve figure it out. We can’t look deeper into the contents because we’ve checked the box. Done. We know what we’ve seen and so we know….How can we? How can I?

Like a spider web. A moment, a tap of a picture isn’t enough. We’re too intricate and complex. Too marvelous.

When I watch my grandson I see his hesitations. He takes moments for silence and ponder-time. His wonder is magical. He’s been my mentor. I’m no longer the teacher.

We can be child-like in our approach to what we think we know. We can tackle the hard facts and be open to not knowing. 

It’s a chance at peace. The evil and aggressor in all of us needs a spoonful of sugar so we can step back and revisit our assumptions. Then step forward with bigger eyes, bigger hearts to heal bit by bit this crazy crazed world. It’s worth a try.