On Perspectives

The other day I heard a woman describe a family who had lived in her neighborhood at one point in life. She accounted for them by saying something to the effect of:

"They didn't have the best clothes or the nicest things, but they had a lot of love between them."

While I've heard people refer to others in ways similar to this before, hearing it this most recent time brought to my mind something that may have not necessarily stood out to me in the past. Previously, I'd probably just heard such remarks and thought something about the bonds of love. This time, though, I reflected on perspectives.

The thing about perspectives is that they're the conceptions of the person who's giving them. They really have no bearing on those who they might seek to explain, define, or clarify.  It's not that they're true or based in reality on any level. They belong to you and me and us and oftentimes are completely unknown to him and her and them--the "subjects" who such perspectives aim to interpret.

So, a family who--from an outsider's perspective--lacks the best when it comes to clothing and material things, may actually be of the mindset that the material things that they do possess are the best and nicest, since both are essentially relative.  Not everyone has the same ideas of  what is or how things are.  Happiness and contentment are not rigid and unchanging.  They correlate to individual experiences, perceptions, and interpretations of life.  They might also vary between cultures and regions.

Perspectives are wonderful.  They add diversity to our existence, helping to keep things interesting.  They also allow us to feel like we have something to say.  With them we can take a position on matters that may or may not concern or affect us.  However, the world is continuing to turn and life is moving right on along whether or not we have or give them, and in the end it seems like the action of life is what grounds us in reality anyway.