I have conversations with you for two reasons.
- I want to understand myself and learn something new about both of us, but mostly about myself.
- I want you to understand me. I desperately want you to see the world through my eyes. I don't want you to agree, just understand. To validate my perspective, my existence.
And when you meet me in my minimum wage job, trying to sell you a fridge.. I want this just as much as when I meet you in the board room as the president and CEO of a multimillion dollar company.
I don't think I'm more clever. I don't think I'm more wise. I don't even think I have any more insight than you. I just want you to understand my view. Understand the context it comes from. Understand who I am, and the little part of life I am trying to contribute. Because I believe it does make a difference.
I believe even the butterfly has an effect in the world around it.
For two weeks, one little cricket has been tormenting an entire building of people at my workplace and disrupting countless meetings. His incessant call mimicking our own call - our desire for attention. To be found, noticed, and hopefully understood. He has made a difference, however insignificant. Unfortunately, I think he's also recently dead. I may have squashed him today.
We can all be perceived good and bad at the same time, depending on our circumstances and opportunities and the view of the observer. That's why context is so very important. That's why perspective is crucial.
I miss the forest - I miss the trees.
-len
