Change Your Lens

When I was younger, I loved capturing moments through my camera — people, nature, animals, or anything that caught my eye. Photography was my way of seeing the world differently, of pausing to notice the beauty in everyday life. Over time, life became busier, and that passion quietly faded into the background. Yet, the lessons I learned through the lens have stayed with me — and recently, one of them resurfaced with new meaning.

As human beings, we all need to develop the ability to change our lens — to shift perspectives and see life from angles beyond our own. A fixed lens, like a fixed mindset, limits what we can perceive. When we choose not to adjust our focus, we risk missing the bigger picture — the heart of what’s really happening around and within us.

Lately, I’ve noticed how easy it is to see only the “ear” and miss the “elephant.” We focus on fragments — someone’s flaws, their missteps, or the parts of a story that fit our preferred narrative. We zoom in so tightly on what we believe to be true that we lose sight of the person’s full essence — their complexity, beauty, and humanity.

There’s a time for zooming in — for seeing the details, the imperfections, the difficult truths. But if that’s all we ever see, we risk falling into judgment and superiority, noticing only the splinter in another’s eye while ignoring the log in our own.

The wide-angle lens, on the other hand, offers grace. It allows us to step back, breathe, and see the whole elephant — the context, the story behind the story, the intricate way every piece connects. Through this broader view, compassion grows. We begin to understand not just what happened, but why — and how each challenge or misunderstanding might hold a lesson for us.

Wisdom lies in using both lenses. When we can shift between focus and perspective — between seeing the detail and appreciating the whole — we experience life in fuller, deeper colour. Each challenge becomes an opportunity to walk around our “elephant,” exploring every angle, searching for the hidden gems that guide our growth.

If we refuse to learn from what’s in front of us, life has a gentle but persistent way of presenting the same lesson again and again. But when we take the time to change our lens — to see with curiosity instead of criticism, with empathy instead of ego — we begin to uncover the quiet beauty in even our hardest moments.

Perhaps it’s time to dust off that old camera, both literal and metaphorical, and look again through new eyes. You may be surprised at how much more there is to see.