Perspective

When you look at this picture, you may think you’re looking at a piece of fabric. In reality, your’e looking at an aerial view of a wheat field after it had been harvested. Pretty amazing, huh? Looking at this picture always makes me think about how wrong our conclusions can be if we’re not looking at things from the right perspective. When we write something – and especially something that is deeply meaningful – our hope is to give the reader a new perspective so that they can see things in a way they may never have seen them before. To consider issues in a way they may never have considered them before. To see things as they truly are and not simply what they wish them to be. Charles Dickens did this in Oliver Twist when he ripped the veneer off of well-to-do English society and exposed the obliviousness of wealth to the suffering of poverty. Victor Hugo did this as well when he unmasked mercilessness posing as justice in Les Miserables. It’s all about perspective. It’s a daunting thing to write with the hope of shifting a person’s perspective. And possibly arrogant. But when the intentions are sincere, writing to offer a perspective that will bring clarity and effect good is among one of the most noble aspects of writing.