Understanding Separate Realities: What Do You See?
While hosting a group in the www.heartfeltpresence.org 24/7 Zoom room, a guest was expressing her thoughts about governmental rules and regulations regarding COVID. As I was taking a sip of tea, I held up my mug showing the image above.
Then I asked the guests, “What do you see?” One response was “I see a broken United States”. Another was, “I see a heart.” Someone asked, “Is that all of the US states?” I shared that I see the United States united by love.
How is it that there are so many perspectives on a single image? How can we all look at the same image and see something different? For me, there is a clear explanation. The teachings of Sydney Banks illuminates the truth of separate realities. We each have our own personal views of the world, of life, of events, and situations. And, even of an image.
Understanding separate realities has resulted in a greater depth of peace and freedom for me and for my clients. When I deeply SEE and understand that each person has their own separate reality, I become more curious about their experience. I don’t need to understand why (or how) they see what they see. I just know that they see differently. This enables me to listen, rather than trying to convince them of what I see.
Soon after learning about separate realities, I asked within, “how is that any two people see things the same?” That thought lightened up all of my relationships. I am less likely to take what others say personally. When I see that they are sharing their reality, I have understanding that they are speaking from what’s available for them to see in that moment.
And that is freedom!
