walking the sacred spiral
walking the sacred spiral
“She can’t see the forest for the trees!” This expression is used to describe someone who is unable to see the bigger picture because she is so intently focused on details. When we can’t put an experience or some information into its larger context, it can mean that we miss its actual meaning. This is also described as missing the point.
As a young adult, I often missed the point of jokes. Of course, if you have to explain to someone why a joke is funny, the humor leaks completely out of it. I’ve gotten much better in the decades since, but there are still moments when something that is popularly thought of as funny eludes me completely.
I think my sense of what’s funny has actually grown as my ability to attend to details has grown. So is it always better to see the big picture, or better not to miss the details? As with most metaphysical questions the answer– for me–is both yes and no.
When I miss the big picture I usually don’t have enough information, and I’m attached to my opinion in a big way. This has resulted in some embarrassing moments when the additional information was expressed to me and I saw, with red-faced clarity, what I had been overlooking.
When I miss the details I’m usually in a hurry to get to the finish line in some way. I can run over myself and other people, and make mistakes. Then I find that my tearing rush made more work for me and other people, as well as taking more time to complete.
When I savor the big picture, I become more appreciative of the complexity, beauty, and ultimate good in the universe. I calm down and become more peaceful. If that’s not happening, I haven’t found the full picture yet, as this remembered version of a Jewish teaching tale demonstrates:
“How can you tell when it’s morning?” the rabbi asked his followers one day. Used to his teaching questions, the students all rushed to answer him.
“Master,” a young student eagerly responded, “is it when you see an animal in the distance and you can tell whether it is a sheep or a goat?”
“No,” replied the rabbi.
“Is it when you can see the demarcation between the sky and the land?” an older student asked.
“No, it is not then, either,” the rabbi answered.
“When is it then?” the students asked him, baffled.
“It is when you can look in the face of any man or woman and recognize that person is your sister or brother. Because until you can see that, it is still night.”
The big picture tells us more about what is important, in that example.
And when I delight in the details, I’m often enjoying creating something, and I’m completely in the present moment with it. Time doesn’t exist. What I’m attending to has got my full attention and interest as we mutually discover and create each other in that moment.
The universe is too big for any of us to take in all the details, so we have to open to a bigger picture when dealing with big issues. Interestingly, this is also the reality about most problems we face and challenges we worry about. There are too many pieces–some hidden, even within us–to know them all and understand their relationships. We face our problems more peacefully when we make the effort see them in a larger context. Not one of them is permanent. Eventually, they will end or we will leave every one of them behind.
What we are doing at this moment, and the people we are spending time with as we do it, are a little less vast. While we don’t know all the details of this moment, putting our full attention on something smaller that is right in front of us reduces stress and allows us to be more productive.
My friend, Paulette Sun Davis, often reminds us that the road to fulfillment is action. I have discovered the wisdom of this experientially. When I’m procrastinating, my stress level goes up. Simply taking an action in the arena of my worry or reluctance immediately shifts the stress and I feel more successful and productive.
If you are getting all wound up over the news, what are the chances you actually have all the details? When your grandchildren are your age, will this issue actually have mattered? Maybe. Why not take action, rather than fuming? Get more information. Open to more awareness and context. See more about both sides.
If that’s not what calls you now, set that aside as incomplete information: a mystery.
Then what would be a better, more fulfilling use of your creative time? Do something nourishing to the good in you and others. When you do, you’ll discover that it is morning, and life is beautiful. It may even shed light on that other mystery and help you toward the Big Picture.
Are You Focused on the Forest or the Trees?
Tuesday, March 3, 2015