To conclude my little Art Perception mini-series, this slightly more exaggerated image where some of the features are either exaggerated or removed may help you to see the young or old woman that wasn't quite so apparent in my previous posts.
Whilst I start this post and am entirely unsure where my narrative will take me, I believe that I was first presented this image along with the quote:
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
The 2nd half of that quote being particularly relevant. This quote's credited to Marco Aurelius but there's always some smart arse on the internet who disagrees but the original author is somewhat irrelevant.
If we were to go with the perspective of those who replied to my original post, we would have agreed that this was a young woman and moved on. Never knowing that others could see an old woman. It's also common for us, as people, to surround ourselves with people who share our view of the world - share our values and share our opinions.
By doing so, we'll all see the same world. We'll continue to share the same opinions and there will be nobody to challenge them. Nobody to show us a different perspective. Nobody to say "Delegations aren't bad". We'll all see the same thing. The same truth. Our truth. Whether it's the truth or not.
There's another often told fable in relation to this, adapted to suit the narrative of the author. One that I only half remember and will make something up to fill in the gaps...
On a busy commuter train, a father is there accompanied by his 2 children. The 2 children are running wild. Playing, running around and occasionally bumping into other passengers. The father appears oblivious to this - irresponsibly letting his children behave in this way, much to the annoyance of those daily commuters. Annoying right?
Eventually, a young man decides to say something... "Excuse me sir, could you please control your children, they're running wild." The man looks up, mortified and apologetic. He instantly summons his children to his side who he asks to calm down and behave. That's better isn't it?
The father then looks up with tears forming in his eyes and apologises to the young man. "I'm sorry." he says. "We are just returning from the hospital where their mother has just died and I'm lost. I don't know what to say to them." Wow. Suddenly the anger and annoyance at these children is gone. Their behaviour instantly becomes acceptable all because of a few words.
Within this story, a few words have completely changed the perspective of the young man and perhaps even of the reader. By listening to others, perhaps to people that we don't necessarily agree with, we can see a different perspective and perhaps ours can even be changed as a result. That's IF we're willing to listen and allow it to be.