What is Your Filter?

What you see is interpreted through the filter of who you are. I sometimes see how differently I perceive the world when I go to a meeting and “hear” different things than the others do. Not that either is wrong, but we focus on different things based on our context and prior experience with the participants.

Recently, there was an incident when I saw more than the other person. Why? Because I saw what spoke to me, not what spoke to the other. What would you see in this situation?

At a stoplight, my husband and I looked to the right and saw a gentleman with white hair and a white mustache, wearing a leather jacket and backpack, on a nicely painted motorcycle.

My husband said that he looked like a laborer without a cent because that motorcycle was old and was a model without any shocks. He was incredulous that the gentleman would ride it for very far because it would be pretty uncomfortable. He wrote him off as someone who was too poor to buy a proper vehicle.

I looked at the gentleman and called him “sexy grandpa.” My husband was surprised. What? Why? Because I saw that the rider was clean, his mustache neat. The motorcycle had an impressive paint job; the rider clearly prized what is apparently a restored antique. No shocks? It’s still good looking. The seat wouldn’t accommodate a rider, so his date would never know. My husband laughed and asked me why I thought he had a date. I thought it was obvious. His backpack was just big enough for a bottle of wine, cheese, fruit, and a baguette of fresh bread. Why did I think that? Because the baguette peaked out the top of his backpack. He had a glint in his eye, and I suspect he was on his way to a meet a woman.

My husband saw a bike; I saw a man in love. Wow! Maybe it’s just because I now more about people than motorcycles. Maybe I pay more attention to different details. Or just maybe, it’s because I value love and look for it in my life.