Taking Perspective: The Long View

Sometimes, people ask me to describe a place that I really love, a special place for me.  This is one of those after dinner questions, or maybe an icebreaker on team building day.

I have often said: a small hill just next to Arthur’s Seat, the extinct volcano that looms over the city of Edinburgh.  Not being the main summit , very few people go there, and that means I usually have the place to myself – with its equally fine views across to the Fife Coast, the Pentland Hills and down the East Coast towards the North Sea.

This is where I go to walk, to think and to let my mind loosen and unravel, gently.

More than any particular view, I need space to take in the long view – a broad and uninterrupted horizon.  I think this is healthy for our bodies – for our eyes and our minds – but also for our soul. Doing this gives us literal and figurative perspective.

Where is your Long View?

Where you take perspective is probably quite personal to you.  I love mountains, and walking – so much so that I am slowly working my way through the Munros (the 282 Scottish hills over 3000 feet).

But you don’t need to go up a mountain. We find broad horizons when gazing out to sea, across open fields and in the majesty of a silent desert.  In great cities, like London or New York, you can find the Long View by crossing a bridge on foot and looking across the river, upstream or down.

There are also ways to take perspective, without leaving home.  Exercising your imagination by reading, listening to or watching someone else’s art, immersing yourself in a different narrative to your own – this is a kind of taking perspective and may also help you build empathy.

This Week in Perspective

On Sunday, I attended a brilliant, inspiring gathering of migrant justice and climate justice activists, part of a series of free workshops on Organising for Power by Tripod: Training for Creative Social Action.

We were invited to participate in collective art and sense making by sticking a figure representing ourselves on a poster, to visually capture where we are on our journey as activists.  Here was my effort:

I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s edition, and thanks for reading to the end!

Take a Mini-Break and Get Some Perspective

If you have 60 seconds right now to take a mini-break, check out this little website from Madeleine Chang: Look Up – I promise it will help you think differently, and get some instant perspective on everything else you were planning to do today.

First published on LinkedIn on 12 April 2024:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/taking-perspective-long–view-jen-ang-jyjde/