By Erica Gustafson, Opinion Editor
There will never be a time when everyone on this planet gets along; that is just a fact. No matter what the conflict is, there will always be at least one person who disagrees with others. The past year has really emphasized many of these disagreements based on religion, race, athletics, politics and healthcare.
Though this will always be our reality, that does not mean that people can’t get along. We do not have to agree to live peacefully with one another.
Allison Carmen is the author of “The Gift of Maybe,” a book about offering hope and possibility in the face of uncertainty. Carmen posted an article on psychologytoday.com regarding that there is never really just one side to a story.
She wrote, “you might not agree with the other person, but maybe some understanding will lead you to a better resolution and improve your relationship.”
Regardless of what happens to be right and wrong, just looking at another perspective can teach us many things. Carmen said, “being right doesn’t always create the best relationships or resolutions to conflict, but compassion and understanding can work miracles.”
There is always a saying people hear growing up when they have a conflict with others; try walking a mile in their shoes. Another way to look at this statement is to try looking from their perspective. This idea is very similar to how photographers use their specific equipment to achieve different photographs.
Over 100,000 photographers across the globe use a Lensball to create new and creative images.
The Lensball originally gained attention from the public when it was introduced in 2017. According to lensball.com, it is “a product built keeping in mind the quality standards a professional photographer needs, for a price everyone can afford.”
This creation allows for refraction to occur and lets photographers see the world around them in a brand new way.
Digitalphotomentor.com explains this technique in simple terms. Refraction is the “distortion of light that gets bent as it passes through an object of denser mass.” This distortion can be compared to the illusion of placing a pen inside a cup of water. Though we all know the pen does not change, the water uses refraction to distort the image through the side of the glass.
Photographs taken through a Lensball have a slight distortion to them that makes the image seem wider in a sense. Photographs of landscapes, portraits and still-life photos all appear different from what our eyes see when looking through a different lens. This concept is why photographers generally have multiple pieces of equipment and try to capture images that are rarely seen.
This concept can be used in situations to better understand others who think differently from us.
Let’s all be honest with ourselves. Do we always want to continuously avoid people with opposing views? Do we really want to constantly argue with others because of disagreements?
That seems like the type of world that tends to cause more stress and anxiety than needed. If people simply understand where one another is coming from, we could possibly find more compromises on issues that are at large.
gustafea18@bonaventure.edu.
