Your Viewpoint is Wrong!

Every one of us suffers from tunnel vision from time to time. Every one of us sees things the “only right way” from time to time. We become very set in our ways because that is what makes life easy. I call it life cruise control, and it can act like a safety blanket.

The problem comes when we set the cruise control and close our eyes, or let our mind wander off to dream land. Have you ever tried doing that while driving? Turn on the old cruise control and close your eyes and take a nap (hint: please don’t do that and tell the person driving the car you hit that you only did it because you heard I said it was a good idea.) And yes, we do have self driving cars, but even those have had a few issues.

So now that I have your attention and you are either:

• Mad at me for daring to challenge your expert knowledge of the entire universe, or
• Willing to just maybe understand that you don’t know everything.

Here are three very important words put together in a way that scares most people:
“I don’t know.” Try saying it. It doesn’t role off the tongue does it. There is a cringe that comes with muttering those three words.

We often don’t know the answers because we really aren’t looking, or trying, or thinking. We are just happy with our cruise control riding along oblivious to anything that doesn’t fit the narrative we have crafted. And then we crash hard because we really aren’t paying attention.

This is true for teaching music and for, well, everything in life.

We all need to do a better job of listening. We have ears but we tend not to use them effectively. We all need to do a better job of thinking. We have brains. I know we all have brains… We all need to do a better job of seeing. We have eyes but we don’t see what is right in front of us. We have the ability to challenge our own thinking, but we are often too lazy to try.

Listen, I get it. There are people that are just wrong about things. I read and hear things that make me want to lose my mind. Not every answer is the right one, and many answers couldn’t be more wrong it they tried.

Yesterday I watched in awe as a hungry chipmunk decided he was going to do whatever he had to do to get the last bit of food in the bird feeder. He rushed right into the feeder only to find himself stuck inside. There was no way for him to get out. And… there was not food inside, just the smell of the seeds. But he was sure there was food in there and had no thoughts on how to get out. I did free him, but even when I opened the feeder he was reluctant to accept my help.

I am done rambling for the day, and need more coffee. Maybe the real problem is that we aren’t asking the right questions? Or that we aren’t listening to the answers that are given?

I leave you with a little Buddhist story:

“A famous dancer had just come to the village and the people were swarming the streets to catch a glimpse of her. At the same moment, a condemned criminal was obliged to cross the village carrying a bowl of oil filled to the very brim. He had to concentrate with all his might on keeping the bowl steady, for even if one drop of oil were to spill from the bowl to the ground, the soldier directly behind him had orders to take out his sword and cut off the man’s head.”
(Hanh, Thich Nhat. The Miracle of Mindfulness. tran. Mobi Ho. Boston: Beacon Press, 1987. pg. 63)

How do you think that ended…