Seeing the world through other people's eyes


I've always had a fascination with POV (Point of View). It comes naturally to all of us as kids as we wonder what in the world the grownups are thinking. And while most of the people that I've known in a long life just have kinda shrugged their shoulders and looked away, I have wanted to know in a very deep and meaningful way.

In my imagination I came become anyone, and anything. I'm the young King Arthur, and Merlin can turn into anything, so I can fly. I do have limitations, which means that I'll never really understand why my dogs always get so excited when they get their dog food (the same thing every day!), but I try. When I look at people I wonder what it would be like to see the world through their eyes - to be that tall, or that short, that young, that old, that rich, or that poor?

By stepping into someone's shoes, in my imagination, I can at least try to understand what their motivation could be for doing something, even if it's something so bizarre to me that I have no real interest in doing it, like eating sushi, or sitting in a stadium to watch people play a game, or getting married, or bungee cord jumping. The list goes and on and on, and is as varied as the billions of people on this planet who live now, and have ever lived.

Now don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean that I give excuses for antisocial behavior that hurts other people. But I do try to picture what would get a person to a point in their life which would make them behave that way, and mostly I've found that they're fearful.

Of course, fear isn't always at the root of what causes people to become dangerous, antisocial, and even violent, but in my experience is the vast majority of the time. Yes, there are people who are just  "stinkers", or what Alfred Hitchcock would call "psychos", who take pleasure in hurting other living things. I don't like to think about these people, but I know that they exist - the kind of kids who would torture animals, and who grow up to take pleasure in inflicting pain on others. But that's really such a small percentage of people that society can usually round them up, and contain them.

When I look through other people's eyes I am often surprised at what they see, and sometimes it's me. I don't think of myself as a particularly scary-looking person, but I know to some people I am. There are people who think that the moment I glance their way they're being accused of doing something wrong. I like to wave at people, and always have, and sometimes I'll see someone who reminds me of the kids at school who hated to be looked at, and would say, "Why don't you take a photo, it lasts longer?" Then I realized that their eyes are fearful. I think that if they could just get to know me, their fear and distrust would go away. 

In this blog in addition to time-traveling, I will be transforming into anyone, and seeing the world through their eyes. I hope that you'll come along with me. There's so much to see!

Walk a mile in my shoes.

And yet we spend the day,
Throwing stones at one another.
'Cause I don't think, or wear my hair,
The same way you do.
Well I may be common people,
But I'm your brother.
And when you strike out and try to hurt me,
It's hurting you.
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