Perspective

This is a particular favorite of mine, especially since I work at a high school. Much preferred to some of the logos I see!

It makes the point that so much is down to perspective.

(I have been thinking about the immigrant question, mainly because of the proposed actions on Monday. I could present my immigrant point of view here, but I promised myself this would be a writing and arts blog, not a political one. Suffice it to say that I am an immigrant, and was LUCKY enough to have the education and financial wherewithal to end up as a citizen in my chosen home. Am I perceived as one of the "bad" immigrants who should not be here? Maybe. Probably not. Lucky me. But are any immigrants "bad?" Come on!! OK, I'm climbing down now.)

As writers, we deal almost wholly in perspective. The perspective of the protagonist, the antagonist, and everyone in between. More profoundly, we deal in our own. How is it that we can step successfully outside that perspective and present that of another, totally different human being? (Or other creature, depending on the genre.) That has to be the art of a great writer, no? To leave her perspective up on the shelf and proceed with the perspective of a stranger? Is that even possible? How can we do that? How can we leave behind our experiences and points of view, developed over years, and step into a brave new world of otherness?

When I was in high school, I had a rather old-fashioned creative writing teacher (Miss Fortescue - great name!) who insisted we write only of what we had experienced. I seem to remember her using Virginia Woolf as an example, and a description of, I think, a necklace. "She must have seen that necklace to be able to write about it so exquisitely." I believed that for years, and cut off what had been a busy imagination. Now I know it's bs. Yet still I struggle with that insistent little string that pulls me back - how can I write about it if I haven't experienced it? Yes, I can use my experience in imagining something similar, but am I overreaching if I step outside my own experience and create something new?

Now, here is where I step further. Say I DO write outside my experience, and beyond my perspective. How can it be beyond my perspective if it is I who is writing? Am I ever free of my own perspective?

When I got my psych degree, somehow I missed those sensation and perception classes (and I am really sorry now), but I think perspective certainly extends beyond perception. Perception is how I interpret my sensations. Perspective is my view, my outlook, what I see colored by my opinion. It is layered on top of my perception. Given the personal nature of perspective, and how it influences my thoughts (indeed how it IS my thoughts), how can I ever step outside that to create a piece of work that is compelling to others beside myself?