Icy Perspective – Photo: L. Weikel

Perspective

We just finished watching the most recent Game of Thrones episode: the battle scene with the Undead in the final season. (Just in case this ever gets read at a time when they have no clue which episode I’m talking about!)

First of all, I need to confess that I’m a latecomer to GoT. Karl and I were so turned off by the first episode that it took us seven years to come around to giving the series another chance. That’s because we tried again maybe three years in and got turned off again within an episode or two by all the violence and gratuitous sex.

I’m far from a prude. But yowza, it took some fortitude to stick with it long enough to get hooked on the characters.

But third time was a charm, and we ended up watching all seven seasons last year. We started in, committing to “sticking with it this time,” months ahead of the release of Season 7, so we could slide right into it.

It was immensely satisfying. And yes, we were hooked.

After watching tonight’s episode, as well as the ‘after-program’ in which the show’s creators describe some of their thought processes in writing and filming it, Karl and I commented on how we might actually enjoy watching the entire series over again.

Not a Fan of Reruns or Reading Books Twice

That’s not something I would expect of myself – I’m not one to watch reruns nowadays (unlike when I was growing up and ‘reruns’ were the only game in town), just as I am loathe to re-read a book. There’s too much fresh content, too many new books being written (and older ones I’ve never read) to reread one I’ve read already.

But there was a lot of detail in all those episodes, and it is easy to see how I may have missed some things that later would become surprisingly relevant. I could actually see how watching it a second time could actually reveal enough nuances to make the entire journey enjoyable again.

And that’s when it occurred to me why I treasure my journals and appreciate the discipline of keeping one as consistently as I’ve (mostly) been able to do throughout my life.

When I go back and read my entries, I not only ‘see’ things from the perspective of that part of myself who wrote it. And that perspective is actually quite easy to recapture, as I was routinely highly descriptive. I’ve always made a point of being raw and honest in my journal writing. Otherwise, what’s the point? I never could see the purpose behind sugar-coating anything, but especially something you are writing for yourself.

And truth be told, as I’ve engaged in research to begin writing the sequel to Owl Medicine by going back and re-reading my journal entries, I’ve been fascinated at times with the things I thought and believed at the time. To read those entries with the knowledge of how things actually played out adds a dimension that can change the dynamic of your entire perception of how life has worked out.

Perspective.

It colors everything. Yet it is so incredibly easy to lose sight of precisely how important it is to understanding our feelings as well as our beliefs about the nature of everything – at least certainly the nature of our reality.

Just How Accurate Are Our Perceptions?

Knowing what we know today, how accurate do our beliefs or judgments as recorded years ago measure up? Would we interpret certain feelings or experiences the same way now, knowing how we once did? And perhaps more importantly, how we acted in reliance upon those interpretations?

I love the task of honing my awareness and ability to read persons, places, and circumstances.

And sometimes I think there is both great value and opportunity provided by watching reruns or allowing reruns to play in our mind by rereading old journals. Opportunity to learn about ourselves and others, which to me is what life is all about.

Who’d a thought I’d come to that realization from finally succumbing to the allure of GoT?

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