One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from my father is that each of us has a perspective that is totally subjective, and that the world we see is never independent of our individual projections. He saw this in his own life, having viewed the world through the eyes of a boy raised Hassidic in a small town in Poland between the two world wars, as a prisoner in Nazi slave labor concentrations camps, as an orphaned immigrant newly arrived in America, and much later, as an enthusiastic member of a New Age spiritual community in upstate New York.

As my dad began to realize that human brains can be conditioned to believe almost anything at all, he intentionally worked to widen his perspective through using his imagination to conjure up novel viewpoints. For example, he’d visualize that he’d been born into a small, undiscovered tribe in the wilderness, or that he’d been a fishman who’d spent most of his life at sea. He’d spend time imagining what he might have been like if he’d been born taller or shorter by ten inches, or into a different race or religion.

In addition to each of us having our own perspective, my father realized how much of his worldview was recycled—passed down from generation to generation with only modest modifications—and how important it is to see how our mind works so we can liberate ourselves from the confines of our conditioning when it doesn’t serve our wellbeing or foster an open heart.

Looking Inward, miniature collage, Patrice Vecchione, 2021

One of my biggest aspirations for the Quest for Eternal Sunshine platform is to share ideas and tools that can help us open our minds and widen our perspectives, and one of the most powerful ways I’ve found to do this through writing.

I’ve been thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with Patrice Vecchione—a brilliant and highly experienced teacher, poet, author and artist—on free Quest writing workshops with this same goal. Our next one, “Write Your Eyes Open,” is in two weeks, on Saturday, February 5. Part of the magic of these workshops is that our subconscious gets a chance to speak up, and it often brings forth surprising information from a very different perspective than that of our conscious minds.

Patrice puts a lot of thought, time and wisdom into these two-hour classes that are meant for everyone—people who write regularly and those who hardly ever pick up a pen. For “Write Your Eyes Open,” Patrice is pondering various aspects of seeing, including seeing as an investigation, seeing as a conversation, how to see with fewer preconceptions, and what happens when we take a second look or pay attention to what we might have been missed at the periphery of our vision. She’s also contemplating the role of encouragement and resistance—bringing to light what we’ve been told to do or not to do—and why sometimes our favorite places to explore are those that have a “No Trespassing” sign attempting to bar our way.

Looking at You, miniature collage, Patrice Vecchione, 2019

Patrice will lead exercises that illustrate how widely our perspectives can vary from one another, and how seemingly common objects become extraordinary when removed from their typical context. “We’ll look at how we see ourselves and what influences that, as well as how to appreciate our own way of seeing,” Patrice told me. “I’ll ask if as children our way of seeing was acknowledged and appreciated, or ignored or discounted. We’ll also discuss when we choose to look with our full attention, when we turn away, and how writing can support us in seeing what we’ve missed at first glance, or what we may not have felt courageous enough to see until now.”

These are all interesting questions to ponder independently, but if you’d like to take a two-hour internal adventure where we’ll explore these concepts in community, please join us on February 5 for our free workshop. Patrice invites us to, “Discover how easy it is to see your world as if for the first time. Write with us to expand and deepen your perspective and discover the power and beauty of your own words, your own life.”

Saturday, February 5—10:00 to 11:00 AM Pacific

We hope you’ll join us for this special workshop where we’ll focus on looking at experiences from multiple vantage points and uncovering the extraordinary in what’s right before our eyes. You do not need to consider yourself a writer to participate. This workshop is for anyone interested in exploring and understanding their lives and the world around them, and everyone is welcome!

Sign up for “Write Your Eyes Open”