A Different Set of Lenses

Steve Long-Nguyen Robbins writes in his book "What IF?" that crucial conversations about diversity tend not to take place because we lack certain requisite skills. The most important is the skill to temporarily suspend our beliefs and worldviews to nonjudgementally entertain the beliefs and worldviews of others. In other words, we don't want to see the world through a different set of lenses because doing so may challenge our own beliefs and socially constructed reality that has become our truth. Yet if we never begin the conversation, we'll never break down the barriers.

I'd like to begin a conversation with a simple story about seeing things differently. About five years ago, we had a young relative visiting us from Norway. He and our son are the same age. One hot, humid Friday evening in June they were driving down Interstate 95 in Virginia when they encountered a rather sever storm - driving rain, thunder and lightening. My son cautiously pulled over to the shoulder of the highway until the worst of the storm passed, annoyed about the delay. Our cousin, on the other hand, was filled with awe, marveling in this show from Mother Nature. It was weather he had never experienced in Norway. It was a matter of perspective.

After he left the East Coast of the United States, our cousin continued his travels across the country. A year later, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he wrote that during that stormy night he remember saying to our son, "I would love to experience a hurricane some day." My son answered, "No you wouldn't." His e-mail continued: "I cannot believe what is happening in New Orleans ... I didn't care too much for the city when I was thee, but now it is like a science fiction war zone and knowing that I've been there, I really fad sad." His experience changed his perspective.

We can't live another person's experience, but we can begin a conversation that will give us insights into their beliefs and views. having those conversations in a nonjudgmental way can broaden our own perspective. Begin a dialogue and try on a new set of lenses.