(smile) I am certain that I am not certain about this.
Last year, while writing Conversations with Light, I found myself reversing a familiar phrase.
Most of us grow up hearing that seeing is believing. My experience with light and life suggests otherwise. I have come to realize the opposite holds true as well.
Believing is seeing.
At the time I was thinking about photography. How expectations shape what we notice. How two people can stand in the same place, under the same light, and walk away with entirely different photographs or even two different stories.
This year, I’ve been expanding on my sense how this notion extends much further than photography.
When I think of cognitive dissonance I think of the moment when reality refuses to cooperate with one of our beliefs. Or more honestly when our beliefs get challenged in the face of “reality.”
The discomfort isn’t caused by what we see, it caused when our beliefs create a reality that does not fit with what we experience. For example, when I was young, I pretty much believed all dogs were appreciative of my affections. I still have scars on my arm from a belief shattering experience.
A phrase I learned decades ago comes to mind. “The map is not the territory.” There are few absolutes in the world but one I believe to be true is that humans are incessant cartographers and as we explore life we create very detailed maps. And like all maps, the ones we form are static, do not allow for changes, and are unidimensional, miniature models of the environment that inspired them.
Cognitive dissonance collapses or at the very least challenges those maps. We’ve all been there and felt the pain of disillusionment. For some it sparks depression, for others it’s an ah-ha moment that leads to inspiration, maybe even greatness.
My question is, or really maybe I am certain that cognitive dissonance holds the keys to the kingdom. Our maps are very useful and serve us for very important reasons. But what if those maps prevent us from seeing the opportunity in the territory that’s right behind the map?
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