Your Daily Brush: Check In with Yourself About Your Perceptions of Others
It can be helpful at times to check our perceptions and assumptions, because there might be more going on than what we initially see.
Dear Friends,
For today’s Daily Brush, I’d like to share an essay I recently published in the World Love Forum newsletter. It’s about a summer job I once had as a prison dentist, and it’s titled: The Shackles of Our Perception.
If you subscribe to both newsletters, you may have already read it. If not, you’ll find the link below.
Building on that essay, I invite you to take a moment to reflect on how our perceptions and assumptions shape the way we see those around us.
We rarely know the full extent of what others are experiencing, especially during difficult times. In the rush of daily life, we often rely on interpersonal shorthand, categorizing people with quick labels. It happens…it’s a part of life.
Today’s Rx for Emotional Well-Being
If you’re open to trying this out, I invite you to revisit a time when you labeled a family member, coworker, neighbor, or even a stranger. Examples could be along the lines of statements such as: “He is a lawyer,” or “They are unemployed,” or “That woman…” or “She is a whiner…”
What might you have missed in that moment? What might be gained by seeing the other person as a human being, with their own pains, challenges, and frustrations?
While there’s no single answer, it can be valuable to pause and ask ourselves:
What am else might be going on for this person?
What might I be missing?
How can I expand my perception so I can feel more compassion toward them?
This practice keeps us flexible, open, and receptive to moments of genuine connection. It helps foster compassion towards others and just might be an antidote to cynicism and disappointment within ourselves.
To your health!
LINK to The Shackles of Our Perception.
