A Little Perspective on Seeing Clearly
What does it mean to see clearly? To see involves two modes of awareness - perception and conception.
Perception is defined as how and what we see. However, it’s often confused with conception, which is where our conscious mind normally operates. Conception is when we label, evaluate, or create meaning from what we see. Perception happens before conception, but not in a linear sense. Perception is the foundation or ground of awareness.
How we see has to do with eyesight, for sure, but also all of our physical senses and emotional landscape. It’s an embodied awareness. Perception takes in everything, the whole visual field - not just particular objects, but also what we see but don’t register, like foreground, background, space, periphery, etc.
Conception is when the mind kicks in to make sense of what we see. Naturally, we want to name and categorize. How we see in this mode depends on our mental landscape - any preconceived ideas we have about what we see is a filter. What we see depends on where we are and where our attention goes.
There’s a third level of awareness that has to do with the heart, bringing a sense of compassion or empathy to what you see. Seeing how everything relates to everything else.
Ways of Seeing throughout the Ages
The nature of reality has been studied by philosophers and monks, artists and writers for millennia. Both Laura Sewall and David Abram (paid links) give history lessons on ways of seeing throughout the ages in their books (which I mentioned in the previous post).
Sewall begins with the ancient Greeks who debated two schools of thought on the nature of reality: naturalism (the realm of the senses or ever changing reality) and rationalism (the realm of the mind or absolute Truth). Generally, Sewall says that the medieval world was rooted in symbolism. But the scientific revolution, in the 17th century, changed all that. Modern science brought forward a way of seeing that was more like a detached observer, and reductionist, rather than about meaning or relationships. This period also coincides with the invention of the camera obscura, a precursor to the modern camera.
Several important thinkers contributed to the study of perception over the next few hundred years - Goethe, Husserl, and Merleau-Ponty especially.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was a German poet, artist, writer, and politician. He brought the senses back into seeing, believing that truth revealed itself through the attention of the observer, in a state of open and respectful curiosity. In other words, with awe and reverence. He saw everything in its totality - past, present, and future - for example, a plant as it unfolds over time, from seed to decay. Goethe worked with qualities - colour, texture, form - as experienced through the senses amd became an expert on the psychology of colors, the impact of colors on mood and emotion, which was mainly dismissed by the scientific community of the time. Goethe was pretty much alone with his thoughts on perception until Maurice Merleau-Ponty came along in the 20th century. But before then was Husserl.
Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) coined the term “phenomenology,” a Western philosophical tradition that questions the assumption of an objective reality. He turned towards things of the world as experienced in their felt immediacy. Husserl saw direct experience as always subjective, relative to our position or place in the moment and our particular tastes, desires, and concerns. He was not looking to explain the world, but to describe subjective experience as closely as possible as it reveals itself to us. Phenomenology was the ground to all other sciences.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961) expanded on Husserl’s phenomenology by emphasizing the body as the subject of experience. He introduced the idea that perception was primary and pre-cognitive and relational.
Today, there are many other people practicing and writing about perception, from light and space artists Robert Irwin and James Turrell, to the photographer Uta Barth, to writers like Abram, Sewall, Arthur Zajonc, Douglas Christie, and more.
Bringing Body, Mind, and Heart Together
I first discovered the concept of perception (an oxymoron?) through Miksang contemplative photography. They speak about perception as a “gap in the thinking process.” Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, known for capturing the decisive moment in his photographs, said, “To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye, and the heart. It’s a way of life.” I’ve found this to be true. And, this is what the practices I’ll be offering in 2021 are designed to do - expand everyday awareness so that the body, mind, and heart work together.
Body: We’ll bring more awareness to the physical senses as well as the emotional and intuitive landscapes.
Mind: We’ll bring awareness to how the mind works, where attention goes and what thoughts and ideas limit what you see.
Heart: We’ll open up to a relational way of seeing, one in which we play a part.
Why is it important to become aware of your perceptions? Because they create your worldview, your reality. And, our view is always partial. I decided a while ago that practicing seeing clearly is what I will focus on for the rest of my life. And I’m glad you’ll practice with me in 2021.
In my next post, I’ll share a sample reflection and practice that you can do over the holidays. Then, on January 3rd we’ll begin with some embodied practices, working with the physical senses. I can’t wait to share these reflections and practices with you and to see what you discover.
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P.S. If you’re on the free list, you can share photos and reflections on Instagram and add the hashtag #seeingclearly2021. Paid subscribers will have access to comments on the Substack posts. I hope you’ll share your experiences there. You can always switch to a paid subscription at any time.
Resources
Every Object, well Contemplated, Changes who you Are - Arthur Zajonc