Perspective
This morning, I could tell you with 100% certainty that the dress was white and gold. The end. No other way around it. You may see blue and black, but I think you are playing games with me and frankly, I am getting a little tired of it.
White. And. Gold.
Until it wasn't...
Some of you social media peeps may have seen the 'controversy of the dress' going around on the internet the last week or so. I saw the pic for the first time on my Facebook app on my phone and clearly saw a white and gold dress. I couldn't understand the problem. So, I left it at that.
I was pretty sure it was some elaborate internet secret or game that people were playing. Perhaps sometimes the dress would be blue and black depending on the IP or source of the pic. I figured it was just a way to get people to be mad at each other.
I left it alone and didn't play the game.
Until today...
My companion and I were visiting teaching one of our sisters this afternoon and she said, "Ok, I just need to ask REAL LIFE people a question here. Have you guys seen this?"
She proceeded to show us the dress. The white and gold dress.
"What do you see?" She asked us.
"A white and gold dress" I replied.
"A blue and gold dress" replied my companion.
She exclaimed, "IT'S BLUE AND BLACK!"
Then we started comparing colors we saw in real time. In a painting. On the TV screen. Nope....perspective remained the same, me seeing white and gold and the other sisters seeing blue and black...and gold. (new...)
The sister we were visiting is also an artist and she showed us a scientific explanation of why some people see white and gold while others see blue and black. Rods and cones and yada yada.
I believed that what we were seeing was real for each of us, but it was still hard to comprehend what the other was seeing. We laughed about it some and then decided to ask the children...
Blue and black.
But wait! As the laptop was being passed around the screen would shift and holy moly, for a second there, I could have sworn that I saw blue and black!!!
The sister showed us a morph of the picture that someone had created to show us the different perspectives. She could now see it as white and gold and I could now see it as blue and black.
We continued to marvel and talk about color and perspective and then I looked again at the screen.
The dress was clearly blue and black.
"Show me the original picture again" I said.
"This IS the original picture!" was her reply.
"WAIT! That dress is clearly blue and black! Where did the white and gold one go!!"
I rubbed my eyes. Walked away. Moved the computer to different light but the white and gold dress was gone. I could no longer see it!
I can't tell you how strange I started to feel. I was totally derailed! I felt like maybe I was on candid camera or something!
Nope. Perspective.
My brain now registered the dress as blue and black and would no longer see white and gold.
I was freaking out! HAHA. I tried to compose myself so that I could then share a gospel message but I kept shaking my head in wonder and chuckling nervously. WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED?
Perspective.
This is what we learned.
Sometimes, we go through life seeing this as they are. We have a conviction about something. Not an opinion. A true conviction.
"Why can't you just see it my way?" we wonder. "It is so clear to see! Why are you arguing? Why are you struggling? You are WRONG and I am RIGHT!"
Perspective, right?
Someone in my life, whom I dearly love, grew up without a father. Not until tragedy struck this persons life did a perspective on feelings toward father's come to light. Unconsciously, this person, throughout her life, felt the role of father was accessory but not necessary. Clearly a mother could do it on her own and not need a man around.
This unconscious perspective had effected the outcome of the tragedy. True, it may have ended the same way, but the perspective of the situation would have been totally and completely different. Our experiences effect our perspective.
We go through life and have personal life-shaping experiences that effect the way we see things. One person may see something and not give it a second glance while another may see the same thing and it sends them into a tailspin of panic.
Who's reaction is correct?
Both.
It all depends on perspective.
White. And. Gold.
Until it wasn't...
Some of you social media peeps may have seen the 'controversy of the dress' going around on the internet the last week or so. I saw the pic for the first time on my Facebook app on my phone and clearly saw a white and gold dress. I couldn't understand the problem. So, I left it at that.
I was pretty sure it was some elaborate internet secret or game that people were playing. Perhaps sometimes the dress would be blue and black depending on the IP or source of the pic. I figured it was just a way to get people to be mad at each other.
I left it alone and didn't play the game.
Until today...
My companion and I were visiting teaching one of our sisters this afternoon and she said, "Ok, I just need to ask REAL LIFE people a question here. Have you guys seen this?"
She proceeded to show us the dress. The white and gold dress.
"What do you see?" She asked us.
"A white and gold dress" I replied.
"A blue and gold dress" replied my companion.
She exclaimed, "IT'S BLUE AND BLACK!"
Then we started comparing colors we saw in real time. In a painting. On the TV screen. Nope....perspective remained the same, me seeing white and gold and the other sisters seeing blue and black...and gold. (new...)
The sister we were visiting is also an artist and she showed us a scientific explanation of why some people see white and gold while others see blue and black. Rods and cones and yada yada.
I believed that what we were seeing was real for each of us, but it was still hard to comprehend what the other was seeing. We laughed about it some and then decided to ask the children...
Blue and black.
But wait! As the laptop was being passed around the screen would shift and holy moly, for a second there, I could have sworn that I saw blue and black!!!
The sister showed us a morph of the picture that someone had created to show us the different perspectives. She could now see it as white and gold and I could now see it as blue and black.
We continued to marvel and talk about color and perspective and then I looked again at the screen.
The dress was clearly blue and black.
"Show me the original picture again" I said.
"This IS the original picture!" was her reply.
"WAIT! That dress is clearly blue and black! Where did the white and gold one go!!"
I rubbed my eyes. Walked away. Moved the computer to different light but the white and gold dress was gone. I could no longer see it!
I can't tell you how strange I started to feel. I was totally derailed! I felt like maybe I was on candid camera or something!
Nope. Perspective.
My brain now registered the dress as blue and black and would no longer see white and gold.
I was freaking out! HAHA. I tried to compose myself so that I could then share a gospel message but I kept shaking my head in wonder and chuckling nervously. WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED?
Perspective.
This is what we learned.
Sometimes, we go through life seeing this as they are. We have a conviction about something. Not an opinion. A true conviction.
"Why can't you just see it my way?" we wonder. "It is so clear to see! Why are you arguing? Why are you struggling? You are WRONG and I am RIGHT!"
Perspective, right?
Someone in my life, whom I dearly love, grew up without a father. Not until tragedy struck this persons life did a perspective on feelings toward father's come to light. Unconsciously, this person, throughout her life, felt the role of father was accessory but not necessary. Clearly a mother could do it on her own and not need a man around.
This unconscious perspective had effected the outcome of the tragedy. True, it may have ended the same way, but the perspective of the situation would have been totally and completely different. Our experiences effect our perspective.
We go through life and have personal life-shaping experiences that effect the way we see things. One person may see something and not give it a second glance while another may see the same thing and it sends them into a tailspin of panic.
Who's reaction is correct?
Both.
It all depends on perspective.
Comments
-Michelle