Lessons on perspective from The Little Mermaid and a hit punk song

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We’ve been educating our pre-teen daughters on what constituted popular songs back when mom and dad were young. One of those was a punk hit that reminded me of how important perspective is.

Last week we played them “Year 3000". The song released by British pop punk band Busted in 2002. It gives some insight into how your great-great-great grandchildren are going to live:

I've been to the year 3000
Not much has changed
But they live underwater

Jokes aside, living either in or under water instead of on land would be a real mind bend. But for fish and merfolk that’s not a game changer at all. That’s the only game they know.

If your name was Ariel you would draw the world map very differently. That’s why I love this image. It’s the exact same earth you and I call home but drawn from the perspective of a fish.

It’s a timely reminder that a lot of what I believe to be true and right about the world and the way of things is just my perspective.

We don’t see the world as it is... but as we are.

I’ve been trying to put this into practice. It’s natural to think “Why is this colleague of mine wrong about this?” But it’s more helpful to ask “Why do the two of us see this differently?”

I want to do the work required to even have an opinion. Try to keep an open mind. Remember I might be wrong. Ask questions. Discuss it and sleep on it.