Perspective into the stereogram of your emotions

Do you remember stereograms? They are twodimensional computer-generated graphic images that have 3D images hidden inside them. Only with the right perspective can you view the hidden 3D image inside. On the surface, a stereogram looks chaotic and disorganised. When you go deeper, you find a hidden level of reality, the hidden message and the real meaning of the stereogram. To be able to view this real meaning, the image needs to be viewed from the right visual and mental perspective.

Perspective, being our mental point of view, is something shaped by our life experiences. It is also the main factor in determining how an event resonates with you, how you feel about a situation, and how you will remember what happened.

Perspective is our mental attitude and it has a huge impact on how we feel. If our perspective is negative, so, too, are our experiences as this will become the filter through which we view them.

If our perspective is negative, so, too, are our experiences as this will become the filter through which we view them.

Taking a look at our current shared experience, the global pandemic, all of us have by now accumulated a lot of negativity inside ourselves. Even seemingly optimistic people are finding themselves with shorter fuses. In some cases, anger and rage have become our default. The thing with unbridled rage is that it becomes something we inevitably push onto others.

Anger is also something we become habituated to, it has its own addictive properties. The angrier we are, the more we start looking for things to get angry about. While rage carries with it an illusion of power, we feel falsely powerful when we are enraged. Yet both these emotions have consequences for our health, both individually and for society as a whole. With every angry outburst legitimising the next one, unprocessed anger pollutes happy societies.

What’s interesting about anger is that it increases our heart rate and testosterone level but also produces what is called a motivation of closeness. This means that anger drives us closer to what made us angry, in order to try and eliminate it.

The purpose of anger is to help us maintain our personal boundaries. Anger is an indicator of our boundaries, a road sign that tells us we need to make some adjustments because our personal boundaries are being challenged. When left unchecked, anger can become rage which is a sign that we are actually not in touch with our foundational feelings. These two emotions (like all emotions) are necessary and have their place. However, when bottled or unprocessed they can be dangerous.

Remember that what you believe is what you have been trained to see since your day one. When we look for the deeper meaning behind what we are feeling, we are able to navigate what we are experiencing with greater ease. This willingness to look at our emotions can often lead to a change in our perspective, as meaning gives new insight.

Emotions act as a compass, giving us guidance and direction into ourselves. Which brings us back to our stereograms, and the valuable message they give us. If we view our lives from the chaotic and disorganised two-dimensional perspective, without taking into account the deeper meaning in our experiences, we will miss valuable insights into ourselves. Asking yourself why you feel a certain way is the departure point to understanding what you need.

Emotions act as a compass, giving us guidance and direction into ourselves.

With all the billions of people in the world, there are billions of perspectives. Many battles could have been avoided if people saw things from another person’s perspective. Focusing on our differences is what keeps us in disagreements. Whenever your perspective is required (meaning every time you interpret events), always remember that yours is not the alpha perspective, it is just one of many.

If you would like to try and become aware of your own perspective, with a view to finding the deeper meaning, then a good place to start is with an anti-complaining campaign. When we complain, we are indicating that we actually do not want to address the grievance meaningfully. Complaining re-enforces our own perspective, while keeping the problem intact by ensuring that we don’t find meaningful resolution. So, for this next month, whenever you feel like complaining, try to stop yourself. Whether you need to bite your tongue or fold your hands, do something other than letting out the complaint. When you do this you will find yourself listening more than complaining, and from there you can begin to see diverse perspectives, the hidden meaning and real truth.

Kirsty Watermeyer