Change Your Perspective, Change Your Life

Why do I stand up here? Anybody? I stand upon my desk to remind yourself that we must constantly look at things in a different way. You see, the world looks very different from up here. You don't believe me? Come see for yourself. Come on. Come on! Just when you think you know something, you have to look at it in another way. Even though it may seem silly or wrong, you must try! Now, when you read, don't just consider what the author thinks. Consider what you think.

In his 1989 seminal masterpiece, Dead Poets Society, screenwriter Tom Schulman draws on his personal experiences, passions, and ideals to proselytize a powerful message. Directed by Peter Weir and starring the late Robin Williams in one of his most quintessential roles as an inspiring English teacher at a prestigious preparatory academy, the film challenges its audience on convictions to absolute truth; the values and importance of individualism and self determination; and, arguably most vividly, the crucial and delicate societal responsibility of every man to his individual expression.

In an iconic scene in the beginning of the film, passionate English teacher John Keating challenges his students to avoid complacency and constantly seek a new perspective - both in literature, and in life. Jumping onto his desk, he invites his students to do the same, encouraging his class by quoting transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau: “Thoreau said, ‘Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.’ Don’t be resigned to that. Break out!” Keating urges his class. As the class departs, he bids them “Dare to strike out and find new ground!”

But it’s not 1989, and the concerns of the information age are far removed from the largely complacent and material flavors of the ‘90’s. Or are they?

Through Williams’s masterful performance, Schulman spoke a provocative truth to power whose themes transcend eras and generations. As 2023 dawns, we are bombarded with more news, messages, entertainment, expectations, disappointments, and bombastic noise than at any point in human history. Almost all of us carry in the form factor of an index card a magical rectangle which simultaneously contains the sum of human knowledge and an unrelenting taskmaster serving the sole purpose of constantly reminding us of our obligations and how little time we actually have.

In a time when our minutes and seconds are so scheduled that we must give ourselves permission to eat lunch, we all must confront the ugly reality that we have permitted ourselves to become trapped in a mundane and predictable rhythm which informs not just our actions, but our entire perspective on the human experience. The more we engage in a predictable, repeatable behavior pattern, the more our perspective narrows into a tunnel vision where we mistake true self-determination for the comfortable expectation that tomorrow should feel like today. It’s stable. It’s familiar. Why mess with what works?

The problem is that as we narrow our perspectives, we shut ourselves off from new ideas, new ways of thinking, and new experiences. We shut ourselves off from our ability to grow. The moment we begin to believe that we’ve learned all there is to learn and that nothing could be gained by asking what we do not know should be an urgent clarion call to alert us to the existential danger.

The adages have flooded our culture across generations: No pain, no gain. No risk, no reward. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You never know ‘til you try. The arts have been echoing the same sentiment for more than two centuries and across generations. From Tennyson in 1850 proclaiming in triumphant grief that “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all,” to Miss Frizzle reminding us through the 1980’s into the 1990’s to “Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!” to Smash Mouth encouraging us at the turn of the millennium “You never know if you don’t go!...Only shooting stars break the mold!,” the message is irrefutable: the only way we can grow as individuals and as a culture is to further our own curiosity, develop our own independence and nurture our own sense of self worth. Consequences be damned.

It all comes back to Mr. Keating and his desk. It isn’t necessary to reinvent your entire life to affect positive change. All we need as a question, an almost foolishly simple one: “what don’t I know?” or, its less paradoxical cousin: “what do I believe I have mastered?”

We’re in this for the marathon, not the sprint. Breathe. We must all make the willful decision to change our perspective, and eliminate assumptions. Acknowledge that there are dimensions we have not considered, and within those dimensions lie countless possibilities. Some of them are terrible and some are wonderful, but all of them together pave the road to progress, growth, and self-fulfillment. There is no guarantee that we’ll get what we want merely by pursuing it, but compared to the alternative of doing nothing, stepping out of our mold is a winning bet any day, and the only way to do that is with some grace, some humility, and the willingness to admit "I do not know."