Perspective

Recently I've taken to hiking. Short hikes, medium hikes and long (for me) hikes. I love going in the morning and in the heat of the day. I love going before it rains and after. Sunny or shade. Each hike, no matter how many times I've been on the same trail, is different. Probably because I am different. And different people have been on the trail since the last time, even if it is less than a week apart. Each hiker takes from the forest what they need, and leaves that which they no longer need.

Today, I decided to pay attention to the tiny mushrooms, lichen and fungi growing along the trail. It has been a wet week punctuated with periods of sun and heat...the perfect breeding ground for mushroom colonies to explode, or so I am told. And the pictures did not disappoint. I have included some for your viewing.

But what came to me as I was attempting to capture my final clump of mushrooms was this: Perspective. Two people (or more) can look at the exact same thing and have a totally different perspective; experience perhaps! Let me give you an example:

In this first picture, one might describe the mushrooms as smooth, relatively flat, solid, glossy. And they'd be right.

And in this second picture, one might describe the mushrooms as striated, rough, opaque, thin. And they'd be right. 

And in this one, they might use all the words above. And they'd be right. 

You see, all three pictures are of the exact same clump of mushrooms, the only thing different was perspective. Sometimes we get so stuck on looking at things from one perspective and insistent that what we're seeing is, in fact, a smooth, thick, glossy surface and another person is equally confident they're seeing a rough, translucent, frail surface. Both are equally right. I am going to try to remember this the next time I am engaged in an exchange with someone and I am as confident they are that my perspective is The Right One. . . because their perspective is probably also right, I just need to be willing to see it. At least that's my 26.2 cents worth...