We All See and Experience Things Differently - A Good Self-love Reminder

How many times do you have misunderstandings with relationships, with clients, with co-workers, with employees, and in life in general? Sometimes we believe we are as clear as possible, and others still receive our message a different way. I have hanging in my wall a drawing that reminds me that we all see, experience, and feel even the same things in our own unique way. It is a good reminder that not everyone will always get exactly what we mean, and we may need to paint the whole scenario a different way to get our message across.

Here is the story of the drawings on this post:

I had the opportunity to visit one of my sisters while she was living in Manaus, AM Brazil. During my visit, the two of us spent a few days in a lodge in the middle of the Amazon jungle. We could only get there by a small boat. It was an incredible experience for both of us. The package included attempting to fish piranhas; learning survival techniques; alligator watching at night; and seeing the sunrise. The scenery was mesmerizing, and I had never seen that many shades of green in my life.

There was no TV, no internet, and no cell phone signal. I know! This was before social media, so being three or four days without internet wasn’t that bad, it was actually very freeing. Although the World Cup final happened while we were there, Brazil had been eliminated the day I flew there, and we were fine without a TV.

We brought with us watercolor pencils and paper. One day we set outside our room, by the river, and using the same tools, we drew the scenery in front of us. This post’s image has my drawing to the right and hers to the left. This is a scanned image of both our drawings, as her original is at my place, and mine is at hers.

These drawings are a true reminder that even when we are looking at the same things, we still see them, process them, feel them, and interpret them very, very differently:

1. We both had the same size paper and tools, but I drew in a small portion of my paper, and she occupied most of hers.
2. I chose to use the pencils to draw and then pass the wet brush on it, to give it the painting look. She chose to create a chart of the colors she was going to use with the pencils, water them, and she used the brush to create a painting, instead of a drawing.
3. We were sitting on a hummock. My sister incorporated it in her painting and I didn’t.

The next time you feel frustrated that you are not feeling understood, or that you are assuming others are misinterpreting what you are trying to say, as a self-love practice, take a step back to recognize that they may be seeing things differently than you. When you know that this is happening, find a different way to express yourself, and ask them questions, so that you can make sure they can truly understand your point of view, and don’t take it personally if they can’t.