What Do You See?

NOTE: Artist Sayaka Ganz sees a second life in discarded objects (i.e. garbage), as seen in the picture above.

Every morning here on the bay island of Utila, I walk to where our property meets the sea—to a nice secluded little spot—and I meditate.

Often a strong warm wind is blowing from the east—where the sun is rising over the sea. With the waves rolling in and the mountains of the mainland rising in the distance, it’s a glorious setting in which to meditate, pray, and give thanks.

Except—there’s a bunch of garbage on the ground mixed in with the driftwood that has blown in from the sea.

It seems a common attitude here on Utila (in Honduras, where I’m currently teaching and diving—not where I’m holding the program) is to just throw your garbage on the ground—or in the water. And a lot of it washes up on the shore.

Plastic bottles, flip flops, tooth brushes, tooth paste tubes, laundry detergent containers, broken pieces of tables, styrofoam, shoes, oil cans, plastic bags, candy wrappers, egg cartons, etc…

My reaction when I first came to the island was anger—and then sadness. I mean, how can people just DO that?! How can they ruin such a beautiful place?

However—as you probably know by now—I believe that my point of view creates how I feel (which then drives my behaviour, when then to a great extent produces the results in my life).

So this morning when I went to meditate, I did something new. I looked at the garbage from a new point of view.”

I picked up a plastic pop bottle and looked at it closely. I looked at the ridges that gave it strength, I saw how it tapered at the neck to make a small opening so it would be easier to pour out the liquid without spilling it all over the place, and I noticed the threads to screw on the cap to seal it.

And I thought about what it had taken to produce this bottle.

First there was the idea, the intention. Long before it was ever produced, it was just an idea. And then that idea—through the incredible ingenuity, perseverance, and collaboration of men and women—became a reality.

I thought about all the equipment and machinery that were required to produce and transport the raw materials for the plastic, to manufacture the bottle, to fill it with something delicious, and, finally, to transport it to the store—so someone could enjoy drinking from it.

In that moment, what I saw in the bottle was not the carelessness (and even blatant disregard for the environment) of the person who threw away the bottle, but the creativity, intelligence, passion, and commitment that brought that bottle into existence.

I saw a bottle that gave someone the joy and satisfaction of quenching their thirst on a hot day.

I was totally inspired by our collective brilliance. I smiled. Nothing had changed around me, but my experience completely shifted. I wasn’t sad or angry—I was joyful!”

(Don’t get me wrong—of course I advocate being responsible with our environment, and being aware of how our actions impact our environment, and acting accordingly. AND—it’s important to recognize that we can have the experience we want WHILE we take action. And the experience I want is joy!)

This experience reminded me of what Anais Nin said—“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

In this time of great change and upheaval in our world, what do you see?

Thanks for sharing...