While it was in the 50's, I knew I needed more than just my wool sweater, so I grabbed this jacket with hood, and I immediately put the hood over my head to conserve body heat.
I immediately discovered that it was strongly affecting my peripheral vision. I could not detect the movement or moving shadows that help me notice the birds around me and above me. Even pulling it back a little still left me without the full range of vision I am accustomed to. I knew I was missing things. I was not getting the full view of the world around me this morning. It bothered me.
As is often the case, my mind immediately thought about how this applies to other parts of my life. We all have things that are "blinders," that hinder us from seeing the full picture in our world.
The first thing that came to my mind was news sources. It is so easy to read our daily news sources that support our own political beliefs. But, that may blind us in seeing why other people see things differently. It may also prevent us from seeing important news that our favorite sources may not report. I have worked over the last several years to have a Facebook feed that does show me news articles both from "main stream media," from more liberal news pages, and from conservative news sources. I also look at Facebook pages from Christian newspapers, Christian writers, and my Christian friends.
What else can we have blind spots about?
We can be blind about our personal strengths and weaknesses. Throughout my life it has been easy for me to dwell on my weaknesses and my failures without giving equal time for my strengths and my victories.
We can be blind about sins in our life. We all have the things that we know that we need to do better in our walk with God. But, I suspect that we also all have sin in our hearts that are hidden from our own sight. The pschological concept of the Johari Window (https://www.habitsforwellbeing.com/johari-window-we-dont-know-what-we-dont-know/) has 4 "windows."
1. Known to self
2. Known to others
3. Not know to self
4. Not known to others
Conclusion: My time spent outdoors in observation, reflection, and meditation helps me be more aware of some of these things. My time reading inspirational and scientific things to develop understanding of how my intellectual and spiritual self works also helps me be less blind. My time on Facebook where I truly look at what other people think and why, where I read news articles that both support my beliefs and but also look at news that may not support my belief. I have to be careful to study and discern whether the news sources I read accurately portray what is going on in the world around me so I can reduce my blind spots. This is very difficult right now. It is why I read my news from a wide variety of sources. It is why I analyze my news sources here: https://www.adfontesmedia.com This is their methodology and why I trust their analysis: https://www.adfontesmedia.com/how-ad-fontes-ranks-news-sources/
What blindspots are there in your life?
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