How Much Do I See?

An ancient parable tells of a group of blind people meeting an elephant for the first time. The first touches the trunk, and cries “Snake!”. The second grabs the tail, and thinks they have gripped a rope. Another describes the tusk as a weapon, while the person holding the leg thinks it is a tree of some sort.

If I’m holding the tail, and I refuse to look at the other parts or to let go of my ‘rope’, then I might easily convince myself that the elephant is, in fact, merely a rope. And from my narrow boundary perspective, I’d be right - although I’d also be missing the full story.

The response is clear: to accurately describe the whole, we should consider other information - other views and opinions - even other senses. Only then can we perceive the complete ‘elephant’.

It’s when we widen our horizons that the elephant appears. Zoom out, and we see the elephant is breathing, moving - living.

Wider still, and it becomes clear the elephant is not alone - it is part of a memory [yep, a group of elephants can be known as a ‘memory of elephants’ 💛 ].

And if we keep widening our horizons, we realise the elephant is part of an entire ecosystem…

While we are working on the ‘rope’, ‘tree’, ‘snake’ or ‘weapon’, it can help to remember that there is an elephant in the room…

🌱 🐘 🌍