What we learned about life from a mountain and a crystal

If you’re curious about our origin story, I’ve posted previously about why we made the ycdi•di podcast.

Understanding your perspective and position allows you to see how you shape your story, and how your story shapes yourself and others.

Perspective is about your relationship to an object. When you move, you see that object differently. As your perspective changes, you understand your story differently because you’re viewing it from a different place. First, you see the mountain in the distance. When you climb it, you can no longer take in the whole mountain, but instead are rewarded with the view at the summit.

Position is about an object’s physical relationship to other objects. If you hold up a crystal in a sunlit room, you see fragments of light cast on neighboring surfaces. Beams of rainbow light cascade over walls, tables, chairs, and even your own body. With the flick of your wrist, those patterns of light scatter and change. The crystal is still the crystal, but its change in position yields dramatic effects.

You are still you. The crystal is still the crystal. And yet, you are capable of seeing it change as a result of your own change, and seeing its environment change by its position.

Your story is like climbing a mountain or turning a crystal. It’s impossible to see the whole mountain while you’re climbing it. And until you turn the crystal, you never get to see its impact on the room.

Your life is dynamic and multifaceted.

The reasons why you started something back then might not reflect the reasons you’re still doing it now.

Maybe you decided to cut hair for a living because you saw a potential to be good at it, but after developing your skills and techniques, you saw how much others appreciated it. You didn’t get into hairdressing to make people feel better, but you’re certainly doing it now.

That’s part of your story. It matters because it matters to you.

To paraphrase one of our recent guests, Elyse:

I started cutting hair because my mother is a hairdresser. I continue to do it because of the impact it has on my clients — it makes me feel good when I do something for them that makes them feel special.

Things get busy, but it’s important to take time to understand how your story is changing and how it’s changing you.

Sometimes, when you take a step back, it gives you an opportunity to realize there’s more work to do. Other times, you’ll discover that the story you’ve been telling is a lot better than you realized.