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I woke up this morning to a gray sky with wisps of cloud and fog outlining the creases between mountains. Summer is short in the northern Rockies, and we who live here get crabby on cloudy days in June. A few years ago, I was surprised to find that I could transform the landscape and its impact with a slight shift in perspective.
The mystique of Alaska has enveloped my adult imagination. The fantasy of living there has passed, but photographs and memories from three wonderful trips have enhanced my inner gallery with Alaskan landscapes. If I look out on Missoula in June from just the right angle, I see the Alaska of my dreams, and the seasonal disappointment dissipates.
This annual experience reinforces the concept that we create the world we see. The brain draws from its file folders of life experience to interpret the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches that flood our everyday lives.
In some cases, the senses trigger delight: the intoxicating aroma of warm chocolate chip cookies, the silken texture of cat fur, the playful gurgle of a stream trickling through rocks. Other impressions signal alarm: flashing red lights in the rear-view mirror, a bear crossing the trail, the doctor's message that test results look suspicious. From one extreme to another, we continually filter incoming data through past experience and its emotional tone.
For many years, I considered mental filters intractable and intrinsic to who we are. However, brain research has taught us that ineffective thought patterns can be defused and new ones designed. Framing a cloudy Montana day in Alaskan mystique improves my outlook. Understanding my sister more deeply converts irritation into compassion. Re-working dismay over a near-miss yields to gratitude for the disaster that almost-but-didn't-quite materialize.
What is your experiences with changing mental channels to find one that works better or improves your emotional response? Is something bothering you today that might benefit from a different view?
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