“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust
Frenchy was on to something there. As is the way this blog is shaping up. Readers are certainly being exposed to new landscapes, via headlines and videos and images that they may have missed; however, I don’t believe that’s what will drive the change that’s being sought. It’s their newly-bestowed eyes that will do the trick. Victor, Lena, Barbara, and Berkeley see the same article or poster or commercial that you do, but their eyes take in a whole different message than yours. Monica and Harry see the same 9-11 art, but their lenses and filters feed completely different images to their brains.
I’ve read Lisa in complete agreement, and I’ve also thought she’s nuts. Oz, when I get him, I feel like I REALLY get him; problem is, I’m not sure if I’m getting what he intends for me to get.
Readers, are you willing to trade in your own pair, if only for a few minutes, and see what our eyes can bring to your world? There’s a chance that some of what you’ve read here has turned you off, or been presented in a seemingly radical fashion, or somehow made you uncomfortable; if so, you’ve been clinging to your own eyes for dear life, which is understandable. Let me suggest that, in the interest of ‘getting it,’ you try on Jim’s or Cicely’s or anyone else’s eyes for a bit, then go back to your own. It’s the next-best thing to being there, and a heck of a lot cheaper than heading to Havana or a prison or a diverse neighborhood in the middle of Massachusetts.
Here’s something else that could be (and in fact already has been) tried: set yourself up as a dark-skinned avatar in a virtual world. Other avatars will, statistically speaking, be far more likely to refuse to help or assist you than they would a white avatar.
The first step is admitting that there is a problem…that we have a problem…that you have a problem.
Who’s willing to try out a new set of eyes?
