We had a strange visitor the other day. A visitor that made me immediately grab for a swatter.
It flew like nothing else we had seen in the apartment. We’ve had moths, mosquitos, flies… But this looked different. Like a small beetle or something. Since it decided to camp out so high on our wall, we couldn’t get a really good look at it.
And our evening quickly turned into a bug-watching night.
“I’ll grab the binoculars,” my love said before disappearing into the bedroom.
“Will we be able to see it since we are already so close?” I asked, glancing up at the little bug on the lime green wall above our LED upright lamp.
“One way to find out!”
After going back and forth, getting dust from the unused binoculars caught in my eyelashes, seeing wobbly views from shaking hands from trying to adjust the knobs and dials on the little seeing contraption, changing positions all over the room, my love announces from the couch that he can see it! I take the binoculars and continue to stand in the middle of the room.
All I can see is a blurry green wall and a fuzzy little brown dot. Still I couldn’t make out what the little bugger was. “Why can’t I see this thing?” I ask, needing to brush more dust from my eyelash, because I’m sure that wasn’t helping either.
Again, another back-and-forth dance resumed with my love and I continuing to change the dials and knobs until he says he can see the little thing crystal clear. I take a look through the binoculars, still to no avail.
I try to change my position, from across the little bug, from right beneath it at a funky angle so I can sit on the couch (but then subsequently tweak my neck), to lying down on the pillows next to me before I can see. Closing one eye, leaving the other open…. Just trying to see.
What my love hadn’t told me was that the dial only affected the right eye, so I started believing my astigmatism was at work and why I couldn’t see the critter clearly since the right lens is zoomed in about twice the size of the left.
(I felt like a real dork when I realized it was the binoculars doing that, and not my “everything-looks-bigger-over-here” astigmatism in my right eye.)
“Aha!” I finally yell, triumphant!
A lady bug! A little yellow lady bug was our unexpected guest. Still, it was hard to see her, and my massive hands were shaking around the tiny binoculars they dwarfed.
We even debated what color the lady bug looked like because it certainly wasn’t red. Yellow? Brown? Tan? We landed on yellow; I had thought it was a hornet at first since I had caught a flash of yellow when it flew away from the wall only to land two feet away from it’s original spot.
Want to know why I finally saw the lady bug clearly?
I had to sit in the exact position, in the same spot on the couch, that my love was sitting in. Any other position or perspective from the room could not provide the clarity of sight with the binoculars that that singular spot could.
Then, of course, I refused to move from that space as I observed the uncommonly colored lady bug as it perched on our wall for a while. We both decided to see what spiritual messages the yellow lady bug might carry (you can discover that here).
And, as I got to thinking—whilst trying to make a little spa for the lady bug to play in, have a drink or a fruity snack from—this was an incredible example of perspective and how no one will see things the way you do. They can wear your clothes, they can learn to move like you, work in a similar job as you…
But they cannot see what you see or the way that you see it.
Your perspective is uniquely your perspective. No one else will see the world as you do. No one else will experience the same things as you even if you’re doing the same activities. Because they are simply not you.
Your perspective is unique. Your thoughts, your feelings, your experiences, your upbringing, how you view things, what triggers you, what makes you smile… So many fractals that just make up pieces of you will effect your perspective.
And with that in mind…
With your perspective, you get to see the world through your own personal lens. And that means no one will communicate the things you yearn to express in the way you do (and will).
So, why (if you ever doubt yourself because other people might be doing what you desire to do) would you ever worry about not stepping into your light and sharing your perspective and being concerned about sounding like someone else? Because you won’t!
The entire make up of your life experiences make you you. Just like someone else’s experience will determine their own perspective.
Just like my upbringing in Utah in a very religious family-centric community colors my perspective, your own experiences will provide a certain type of lens for your perspective.
This is why your voice matters, why each voice matters. This is why your unique story matters. Only you can tell your story in a way that no one else can.
You may think other people have done it before, but they haven’t. They haven’t done it as only you could do it. Only you can.
We all have our own personalities, paths, and yes, perspectives, too.
And when you share your perspective—your voice and stories—then others can relate to and understand you better. It’s when you share the details that make you you that people can also see themselves. How we are alike. How we are different. And how our differences create the kaleidoscope that makes life so interesting and dynamic.
It’s when we share our perspectives that we can more easily step into each other’s shoes, even if just for a moment… For a little perspective. 😉
Now that’s quite the connection to make.
So, I challenge you to embrace your unique perspective, insights, and stories…
You never know what your light can do in this world when you express your unique perspective, or who you might inspire through the stories that only you can share.
Who knows… A lady bug, or other creature, might visit to share their wisdom with you too.
Have a wonderful week, lovely.
(The lady bug ended up staying for almost three days… I hope they liked the snack and water I left for them.)