What is a spiral?

Three children talking as I passed them walking locally – one asks the youngest what they have done at school today. The little boy mumbles a reply and the girl who asked the question then asks if he did something about spirals.

“What is a spiral?” came back the little boy’s response.

“Well it goes round and round starting from the middle and going outwards.”

Now the third person speaks up stating “No it goes round and round from the outside to the middle.”

Can both be right? Is either right? Is there only one answer to this puzzle?

Finding Perspectives is all about enabling individuals and groups/teams to grow their ability to see more than what is initially obvious to them, to explore new perspectives, possibilities, potential.

Hearing these three children, the girls each so adamant that they were right, captured my imagination immediately.

So often we can find ourselves heading right into some form of argument with others because of what they claim and how they say it, without pausing to consider whether their point is actually just as legitimate as our own.

Think about the spiral – is it from the inside out, or the outside in, or could you find yet another way to describe it? Does it matter that only one definition carries weight, or are you able to carry more than one perspective in your mind at a time?

So – when you next find yourself debating the meaning of something and it feels as though each of you is boxing yourselves into a corner – pause, reflect, ask yourself if there is merit in looking at things from the other person’s point of view.

You may just find that you look at other things in your life differently too.

Give it a try – ask yourself, did the seed come before the flower, or the flower before the seed?!

Does my way of doing this particular task stop me from seeing beyond to other possibilities which may save me time, energy, stress, …?

Let me know what you think – dorothy@findperspectives.co.uk