The Importance of Perspective Taking

I just watched a special about the late actor Rob Reiner. Something that stood out to me and hit home was someone said that at the heart of his writing and filmmaking was the dialogue between the characters. How important perspective taking was to him.

That’s so true. That’s something I write about too, to do your best not to judge someone you truly don’t know or whom you’ve never even talked to.

And to also do your best to have empathy and put yourself in other people’s shoes. Even if you don’t like their behavior, understanding the why can sometimes help.

For example I’m typically a very kind person, but sometimes I’m having a day and can be snappy. For someone who doesn’t know me, they might assume I’m a b*tch based on one interaction when I was just having a bad day and happened to be short with them. I try to keep that in mind too, to not make assumptions based on a limited interaction with someone. I might not be seeing the whole picture.

Actually talking to people is something I feel like we direly need today. It can open the door to empathy, connection, and understanding. And love. And the world can certainly use love.

I’m grateful I’m pretty good at perspective taking. I feel like being born different has helped with that, that I naturally have a little more empathy and also curiosity of other people’s differences. I want to learn more, even if I don’t agree with their perspective.

So, thank you, Rob, for teaching us to look at things from other people’s perspectives. Such an important lesson.