Photography by, Greer Snyder
One clue my body supplied that I was turning on the 50 mark was my eyes’ seemingly belligerent refusal to make sense of the printed words in my hand. I have worn glasses for reading since about my mid-twenties, but if I concentrated enough, I could still read. But when it became dangerous to look down at my Waze app while driving, and even the street signs took a bit longer to resolve, I knew it was time for bifocals. And I acknowledged I was firmly situated in middle-age. With the expert flip of the phoropter’s trial lenses my ophthalmologist determined the optimal curve and thickness to make reading near and far a cinch.
A recent paper in the Journal of Research in Personality rather compellingly established that the personality trait of openness is related to the very physical sense of visual perception. That is, “openness is linked to differences in low-level visual perceptual experience.” Those who scored high on a measure for Openness to Experience could hold two images simultaneously in the brain. Whereas, as once thought to be a universal operation, those with a lower score alternately flip back and forth between two images, the brain suppressing one image than the other.
The research design and type of results indicate it is unlikely there is a personality type response bias. They also found that priming test subjects with an imagination task coupled with music increased the mixed percept experience, especially for the high Openness scorers. And with the mindfulness research that show how mindfulness spiritual practices increase openness to the environment in general, it seems in the realm of possibility that low scorers can train their brains to hold two images as one.
This is important because it affects the way we interact with the world. For instance, though it has always been possible to mix red and yellow and see that together they make orange, if the media were not available, some brains could conceive it. How much more might I miss if my mind remained fixed on seeing that your imaginative genius is true about you and reading is difficult for you, but not see that together those qualities make you a remarkably creative computer programmer? Indeed, instead of encouraging you to learn and develop those skills, as a parent I might force you to labor over those essays and quench your spirit. And the world would lose; I would lose.
I love this kind of research that shows how brains work, and how much our behavior and personalities and circumstances affect its operation. Sometimes just by knowing something, understanding a process, it becomes easier to nurture that mechanism or change a behavior in order to encourage a new process. I am not a robot. I am not consigned to one way of thinking—thank God! But it is much easier to hold to one particular perspective. It takes energy and courage to admit that my perspective is monocular. But once I allow the trial lenses to flip, bring into focus two perspectives, the thrill of expansive perception is thrilling. It is spiritual. It is Love.
In what ways might I allow God to switch up my lenses and understand the movement of the Spirit in a more expansive way today?
You can find more on mindfulness practices in my book, here.
