A Different Vision

Happiness is a Different Vision Altogether

I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard it. The Great Horned Owl can see a dime at 100 yards.  Pity the poor mouse!   Classified as Bubo virginianus, it ought to be nicknamed “flying appetitie.”   It eats just about anything it can carry off.  With a wing span of almost 6ft, it’s a stealth dive bomber of death. 

I experienced one up close and personal walking my dog along a wooded, suburban path. First there was the screech, later interpreted as—“I’m pissed”—and then there was the swoop directly at me before I knew it was even coming.  I was later told by a Professor of Ornithology that “If she had wanted to take your head off, she would have done it.”  I had come too close to her two juvenile offspring, and she was not attacking—but defending. 

At the time, I did not ask her what she was doing.  I just hit the ground with my dog.  Serious bird!   

 

I have always put two things together.  The first is hearing that the bird can see so sharply with such details, even at 100 yards.  The second is that she was defending her young.  In our stories, do we have a clear enough vision for our priorities, for what really matters enough to defend?

TS Eliot, in The Family Reunion, writes that:

Happiness is not getting what you want.  Or, getting rid of something that needs getting rid of.  Happiness is a different vision altogether. 

And I would add:

The passionate defense of that priority in your life. 

How do you increase or change your vision? 

Well now, that all depends a whole lot on your willingness to try to see things differently.  The only way that I know how to do that is to change your environment…to literally experience life from an entirely different vantage point.  Remember the owl.  It changes places so that it can literally see and hear the terrain differently. 

What specifically can you do?  This is where it breaks down for most people.  You gotta want to go to a different place and most don’t.  Look at the list.  Ask yourself if you want a different way of seeing badly enough to move out of your comfort zone? 

• Start taking a long quiet walk before work or before bed,
• Ever kept a journal with a theme?  Not a diary, but a journal that looks particularly at some dimension of your life—ie track and describe relationships.
• Start listening to people—really listen—what do they see in life?
• Volunteer for one time, one event charity work. Your day will be different.  
• Or my favorite—go out of your way to do nice things for people as they naturally arise.

 Remember Eliot.   

Happiness is a different vision altogether.