Lens Shifting

I have a new skill I have named Lens Shifting. If you have not already read Presume Positive Intent - click HERE to read it first. Presume Positive Intent applies to reframing how you think of other people's actions. Lens Shifting is similar to presuming positive intent, but instead of reframing how you evaluate others, you can reframe how you can evaluate yourself and the world around you. 

How does it work ? 

I imagine my mind to have lens like a camera. In this case full of lenses, I can pull them out to use as tools for my mental health. Each lens gives me a new perspective and mindset.

This is similar to the way we often alter our photos using a filter, narrowing the frame, recentering the subject or changing the lighting. On our phones or cameras, we gently and mindfully tweak the photo into what we perceive to be a better photo. The subject of the photo remains the same, as does the location and the time we took the photo, but we have purposely and with care adjusted it slightly. What if we can do this with our mindset? With our perspective of the moment. We can if we Lens Shift.  We often talk about switching our frame of mind or seeing a point of view from a different angle, so the idea is already in our language. 

Still confused?  Here is an example.

Sometimes, I struggle appreciating people’s creativity without immediately measuring it against my own personal creativity. I find it challenging to witness someone else’s amazing talent, without looking internally and judging my own talent or worse my lack of a talent. This mindset feels like I am constantly using the Judgment Lens - through this lens my own work becomes intertwined and measured against someone else's work. The Judgment Lens leaves me feeling inadequate and disappointed in myself. I feel consumed by doubt and the heaviness of trying to compete. The Judgement Lens does not serve us; we should all pull it out of our metaphorical lens case and throw it out.

Theodore Roosevelt said “Comparison is the thief of joy.” He was right. 

Comparing myself to others by judging myself critically does steal my joy. Comparison saps away my positive energy. Comparison can trigger negative emotions such as inferiority, envy, or even resentment. When you are comparing yourself to someone else, you are less likely to be able to focus put forward your best self. But comparison does serve a purpose sometimes.

Maybe we should keep the nicer cousin of the Judgement Lens in our lens case. The upgrade to the Judgment Lens is the Comparison Lens. A Comparison Lens if used skillfully can help us improve. Maybe I would pull it out, if I was comparing myself to a master I wish to learn from. Seeing how I can learn and improve is no longer using comparison as the "thief of joy".  I just have to learn, while using the Comparison Lens, to keep it in the right perspective, to zoom in and out on the right angles. This lens is certainly for the advance Lens Shifter. But once mastered it can give insight into ways I need to learn but also give myself the grace to learn without pressure. Through the Comparison Lens, I can choose to improve myself rather than judge myself. 

What other lens are there? Where should I start? 

One of my personal favorites is the Curiosity Lens.

The Curiosity Lens can put a new spin on comparison. Instead of jumping to "that is much better than mine" or "I am so much worse"; I can ask myself questions "how did they do that? What do I like about it? Why do I like it?"

The Curiosity Lens filters out the self critic and returns the focus to where it should be - to the art and talent before me, not inside me. I return to learning. To self enhancement not self destruction. 

There is also the Awe Lens bound to bring some joy back to comparison. Through this lens, you can see how amazing, inspiring and mesmerising things are before you. 

Yoga has its own lens and to me it is a superior lens. The Yoga Lens is one you can cultivate to use in your everyday life. Through this lens, I can appreciate the experience, the art and my limitations all as parallel. I feel free from from any self judgment. I merely glance at others doing what might be perceived as 'better than me’ at yoga and get back to my own mat and my own practice.

The Yoga Lens understands the concepts of light and time on its subject. 

Consider if you were to take a photo of the same mountain multiple times; sometimes the light shines differently on its subject. The light is different depending on the time of day, the weather in the area and the time of year. Some days, the mountain looks spectacular; other days a little less. This is not the fault of the mountain. The mountain is the same but what has changed is what is happening around it. At that particular moment. 

Treat your Yoga Lens as the same concept, but the subject is not the mountain, it is your body and mind. Some days, balance comes easy and you can slip into poses with ease; other days you fall out of poses and cannot concentrate as well. This is not the fault of you (the mountain); you are just reacting to what is happening around you. What is happening in your lived experience at the moment. We didn't fault the mountain so we shouldn't fault ourselves. 

The Yoga Lens also provides the light to what may have felt like darkness when I see others doing better. They are on their journey in their living experience. I am no longer intertwined or measured against anyone else. I appreciate that there is always another step for me to take and another one for them too. 

I challenge you this month to Lens Shift and switch into the Yoga Lens. Let me know how that works for you. 

Do you have another lens in your theoretical lens case? What is it and how do you use it?