Dear friend, There is a verse in the Bible (Proverbs 29:18) that says: Where there is no vision, the people perish. But why? Why do the people perish without vision? What IS vision? Do you have it? Do I ? Why is vision so important? What is vision In physical terms, having vision means
OK, Dr. Hall. You did it again. You helped me unearth fond memories and reflect deeply. Kudos!
Vision is a very big word. I have been reflecting on this for a few days before responding. I think I was lucky enough to be born with hope. Lucky enough to have had parents who were examples of hope. After all, they survived the battles of WWII and returned home to start a family together. And I was raised to think critically - not swallow the pablum of any pulpit or political pundit. To live cheerfully and with a hopeful approach. To speak well of others and enjoy their different origins and styles.
When I think of the word vision, I immediately think of one the earliest conversation I had with the woman of my dreams who agreed to marry me 25 years ago. That chat happened about 16 years before we married. BTW, I highly recommend mating with someone you have been great friends with prior to launching the romance factor. It can be a solid foundation of mutual trust and admiration. I have tried it the other way more than once. Not good results.
That conversation was about "creative visualization". Picturing a future life change. It could be a place to live. It could be a change of employment. The big stuff in life. If you embrace "CV", you begin to take the small steps that lead to that goal that you continually visualize. So as friends, we had enjoyed discussing the philosophy of all that. When we connected much later as a couple, we employed CV as a tool to move our lives in new directions. We moved to the coast of Maine and opened a business together. Every step was a blend of luck and welcoming the opportunities that we had visualized.
So for me, Hope IS a vision. Hope is a Goal. It's also, embracing failure, dusting oneself off, and revisiting the vision.
Vision is also the ability to see clearly what is before and around us and how it contributes to or detracts from our ability to reach the goals we envision for ourselves and our world.
I don't know that anyone else's vision has inspired me although there are definitely people whose example I've been inspired by and that might be the same thing. My goal for some time has been to end each day having made the world a little bit better place to live in.
I have been thinking about what you say here, when you convey another whole dimension of what vision IS.
I never thought of that. It is very profound.
Next time I write about vision I will need to include these insights that you bring.
The dimension of vision you describe
must be that which gives us the awareness to both protect ourselves from harm and to guide us toward growth.
I now see from your life story how you had to rely upon that vision to make the huge and protective life changing decision you made for you and your daughter. Yes,
that was your clear VISION of what was around you!l, and how it was detracting from you and your daughter's capacity to live. Thank you for teaching us about this.
Thank you Deborah for your thoughtful discussion of the meaning of vision and how it can give people hope.
But I have a question for you. What if a person develops a vision of the ideal life he or she wishes for, and then realizes that something like climate change will destroy the lives of our loved ones?
And this is not doom and gloom —- it is reality that climate change with all its disastrous consequences will destroy the existential future of our children and grandchildren, unless we stop burning polluting fossil fuels before it is too late.
So in this context how can we develop a realistic vision that gives us hope?
Deborah , what if ultimate victory in combating climate change is impossible, given the apathy of most people to this crisis, and the abject failure of our governments to act to combat the huge menace of our climate crisis?
I wonder how do people avoid the very widespread climate despair that is causing many young people to say that they will not have children to bring into this so troubled planet of our Earth?
Sorry to sound pessimistic, but perhaps pessimism is a normal and even healthy response to all the huge problems of our little planet.
It would be interesting to see how vision varies by culture and circumstances. There is a Canadian film called Snow walker. It is about a cocky bush pilot and a young native woman who are stranded in the wilderness after a plane crash. The woman uses native survival skills to keep them alive. In one scene they are discussing the afterlife. The native woman says the her people go to a spirit world behind the moon when they die. The pilot asks what it is like there. She replies " Good hunting and fishing." That says so much. No golden streets or palaces, just what her people would need to thrive.
I personally spent many years of my life in survival mode. Figuratively putting my head down and plowing forward. My only vision was that ultimately I would break through to a more secure place. I got there. Now my vision is to matter at some level. Not to change the world but to matter a little bit.
My idea of an ideal vision of life involves, every day, making an effort to do and get the most I can within the limits of my Physical Strength, my Emotional Strength, my Spiritual Strength and my Financial Strength. In effect living my life to it fullest as well as helping others to do the same. I am 85 years old and proud of it!
I agree with all you say. Sometimes it is just to hold that vision, other times to take steps because our vision tells us something new every day. That is Indigenous teaching.
Deborah's words hit a bullseye with me. I have found purpose in my retirement ... 1) to follow my numerous interests and write about them (in Quoth the Maven), 2) to maintain premium physical and mental health and strength, and 3) to be a good person. It makes waking up every day worthwhile and meaningful.
When I was young I never had a vision, but a goal just to be happy. I succeeded for most of my adult life. Unfortunately the vision for the future that I share with those around me is of doom and gloom. I wish I could have a vision of hope, but I’m a realist and see too much evil and not enough good.
Thank you, that seems like to much praise for doing what I wanted to do. I have no feelings of pride, that seems too arrogant for me. I'm just grateful that I was able to do what I wanted to do and survived to tell about it.
Thanks for such a flattering compliment. I spent seven years working at a residential male adolescent behavioral treatment facility. Although it was mainly a cognitive/behavioral treatment model, I have always been told since college that psychoanalytic theory seems to pervades much of juvenile psychology. Maybe I have picked up a few things.
OK, Dr. Hall. You did it again. You helped me unearth fond memories and reflect deeply. Kudos!
Vision is a very big word. I have been reflecting on this for a few days before responding. I think I was lucky enough to be born with hope. Lucky enough to have had parents who were examples of hope. After all, they survived the battles of WWII and returned home to start a family together. And I was raised to think critically - not swallow the pablum of any pulpit or political pundit. To live cheerfully and with a hopeful approach. To speak well of others and enjoy their different origins and styles.
When I think of the word vision, I immediately think of one the earliest conversation I had with the woman of my dreams who agreed to marry me 25 years ago. That chat happened about 16 years before we married. BTW, I highly recommend mating with someone you have been great friends with prior to launching the romance factor. It can be a solid foundation of mutual trust and admiration. I have tried it the other way more than once. Not good results.
That conversation was about "creative visualization". Picturing a future life change. It could be a place to live. It could be a change of employment. The big stuff in life. If you embrace "CV", you begin to take the small steps that lead to that goal that you continually visualize. So as friends, we had enjoyed discussing the philosophy of all that. When we connected much later as a couple, we employed CV as a tool to move our lives in new directions. We moved to the coast of Maine and opened a business together. Every step was a blend of luck and welcoming the opportunities that we had visualized.
So for me, Hope IS a vision. Hope is a Goal. It's also, embracing failure, dusting oneself off, and revisiting the vision.
more below
Bill,
What joy it is to read your fascinating response to my letter, so full of vitality!
I enjoy being a catalyst and I love how you start "OK, Dr. Hall. You did it again." Hahaha that killed me.
I, too, like to reflect a few days before
I reply. Your thoughts on visualization and on hope are profound, and have me thinking. Thank you for sharing them
with me. More soon.
PS Yes yes yes to mating with a great friend. So glad to hear you DID that!
Bill,
It's fascinating that you talked with your friend
(and wife-to-be) about creative visualization
16 years before marrying the woman of your dreams!
I had not thought of creative visualization
as a form of vision, but it certainly is.
And it's one which can be actively constructed and pursued,
working on a conscious and unconscious level both.
I also had not thought of hope as a vision and a goal in itself.
But I can see that remaining hopeful in the face of all challenges
IS a powerful vision.
One that you and your wife embraced and continue to fulfil.
What a great love story, Bill
Vision is also the ability to see clearly what is before and around us and how it contributes to or detracts from our ability to reach the goals we envision for ourselves and our world.
I don't know that anyone else's vision has inspired me although there are definitely people whose example I've been inspired by and that might be the same thing. My goal for some time has been to end each day having made the world a little bit better place to live in.
Dave,
I have been thinking about what you say here, when you convey another whole dimension of what vision IS.
I never thought of that. It is very profound.
Next time I write about vision I will need to include these insights that you bring.
The dimension of vision you describe
must be that which gives us the awareness to both protect ourselves from harm and to guide us toward growth.
I now see from your life story how you had to rely upon that vision to make the huge and protective life changing decision you made for you and your daughter. Yes,
that was your clear VISION of what was around you!l, and how it was detracting from you and your daughter's capacity to live. Thank you for teaching us about this.
Thank you Deborah. It was your writing that got this train of thought moving.
You are a person no doubt with a big heart and developed understanding of what can bring meaning to one’s life.
Thank you, Steven
I am deeply touched
by your words.
Thank you Deborah for your thoughtful discussion of the meaning of vision and how it can give people hope.
But I have a question for you. What if a person develops a vision of the ideal life he or she wishes for, and then realizes that something like climate change will destroy the lives of our loved ones?
And this is not doom and gloom —- it is reality that climate change with all its disastrous consequences will destroy the existential future of our children and grandchildren, unless we stop burning polluting fossil fuels before it is too late.
So in this context how can we develop a realistic vision that gives us hope?
further thoughts below
and related thoughts in my reply to Joanne
Patricia,
Thank you for your profound and important question.
I have been giving it a lot of thought.
I will write again when I have ideas to offer you.
I appreciate being asked tough questions
because it requires me to grow.
Patricia,
How we keep hope in the face of impending disaster
is indeed The Question.
Our losing hope is the biggest danger of all.
Losing hope leads to passive resignation
which makes defeat a certainty.
In all of history, those without hope
have never overcome a single horrendous situation.
Every movement of progress toward health, freedom, justice,
and the well being of the natural world
has been led by visionary idealists who never gave up hope.
Without an idealistic vision,
it is impossible to inspire hope in others.
But to sustain hope, we have to make rapid progress
toward achieving the ideal vision
especially when time is of the essence, as it is in climate change.
That is where the realists come in.
Realists are practical and logical and effective
in the task of making hopeful visions real.
They are wide awake and acutely aware of the actual emergency at hand.
To make real and immediate progress on climate change
will require realists and idealists to collaborate closely.
The servant leadership, vision and esprit de corps
will come from the idealists (Gen Z, fortunately, is full of them)
but for practical follow through and major problem solving
they will need the strengths of the realists.
There are many places in this collaboration
where individual citizens can make important contributions.
Not only by taking practical action to make the solution real
but also by encouraging the leadership in their efforts
and by working to keep alive the shared hope
that will make our ultimate victory possible.
Deborah , what if ultimate victory in combating climate change is impossible, given the apathy of most people to this crisis, and the abject failure of our governments to act to combat the huge menace of our climate crisis?
I wonder how do people avoid the very widespread climate despair that is causing many young people to say that they will not have children to bring into this so troubled planet of our Earth?
Sorry to sound pessimistic, but perhaps pessimism is a normal and even healthy response to all the huge problems of our little planet.
Patricia,
Once again I am benefiting from your inquiring and caring mind.
Thank you so much for asking me these further questions.
They are a healthy challenge, causing me to reflect deeply on these vital matters.
I will write further when I have thoughts to offer.
It would be interesting to see how vision varies by culture and circumstances. There is a Canadian film called Snow walker. It is about a cocky bush pilot and a young native woman who are stranded in the wilderness after a plane crash. The woman uses native survival skills to keep them alive. In one scene they are discussing the afterlife. The native woman says the her people go to a spirit world behind the moon when they die. The pilot asks what it is like there. She replies " Good hunting and fishing." That says so much. No golden streets or palaces, just what her people would need to thrive.
I personally spent many years of my life in survival mode. Figuratively putting my head down and plowing forward. My only vision was that ultimately I would break through to a more secure place. I got there. Now my vision is to matter at some level. Not to change the world but to matter a little bit.
Fred,
That is a good question:
how does vision vary by culture and circumstance.
I reckon that native woman's spirit world
would be Uncle Fred's idea of heaven, too :)
I hear you that you spent many years in survival mode.
Congratulations that you "got there" to a more secure place.
Clinging to your vision
that ultimately you would break through
made possible your survival.
Embracing and exploring your newfound vision "to matter at some level"
will gradually create your fulfilment.
Another beautiful post - thank you Dr. Hall.
There have been many visions that have given me hope.
In the ancient world, Epictetus. In the fictional, Gandalf. In the business, Musk. In the political, Washington.
The list goes on and on, and for their vision and your reminder of its importance, I am grateful.
Sam,
You are so welcome.
You are a visionary man
as I can see from your deep writings.
I am not surprised to hear
that many visionary thinkers and leaders
are important to you
and have given you hope.
I bet you discover new ones every year!
Finding these leaders is vital.
Each admirable vision we embrace
enhances the probability
that we shall fulfill our own.
My idea of an ideal vision of life involves, every day, making an effort to do and get the most I can within the limits of my Physical Strength, my Emotional Strength, my Spiritual Strength and my Financial Strength. In effect living my life to it fullest as well as helping others to do the same. I am 85 years old and proud of it!
Steven,
You are 85 years young
and have good reason to be proud of it.
It is evident how much deep thought you have devoted
to creating--on key dimensions--your ideal vision of life.
And to living your life "to its fullest
as well as helping others to do the same."
Your tender loving life
reflects the depth of your devotion.
I am moved by your love for others.
I agree with all you say. Sometimes it is just to hold that vision, other times to take steps because our vision tells us something new every day. That is Indigenous teaching.
Thank you, Kelly, for sharing your deep insights.
I hear the wisdom in the Indigenous teaching
you bring to us here.
I love the peaceful idea:
"sometimes it is just to hold that vision."
Indeed,
sometimes holding it is quite sufficient
and all we can do!
And I love even more the teaching:
"our vision tells us something new every day."
I never thought of that
but it is so true.
Not only do we shape our vision
but our vision continually shapes and teaches US!
"Some of us may have created a vision statement
expressing the ideal purposes and outcomes
(personal, spiritual, educational, relational, financial, political, etc.)
that we hold up to guide our own life."
Deborah's words hit a bullseye with me. I have found purpose in my retirement ... 1) to follow my numerous interests and write about them (in Quoth the Maven), 2) to maintain premium physical and mental health and strength, and 3) to be a good person. It makes waking up every day worthwhile and meaningful.
Jim,
What I hear is you decided to LIVE.
I am so happy for you
that you refused to be lastingly overwhelmed
by grievous pain and loss.
You summoned yourself to rise up
and take powerful ACTION:
"to follow"
"to maintain"
"to be."
Yes, Shakespeare said it all:
To be, or not to be, that is the question.
When I was young I never had a vision, but a goal just to be happy. I succeeded for most of my adult life. Unfortunately the vision for the future that I share with those around me is of doom and gloom. I wish I could have a vision of hope, but I’m a realist and see too much evil and not enough good.
further thoughts below
Joanne,
Thank you for sharing your dilemma.
I am thinking about your wish
to have a vision of hope
in spite of the evil you see.
I will write again
when I have thoughts to offer you.
Joanne,
Your goal just to be happy served you well.
It is a huge and rare accomplishment
to succeed in being happy most of your adult life!
I hear you that you wish
you could have a vision of hope now
to sustain you as you live your coming years.
But being a realist, you don’t see how to have hope
when faced with “too much evil and not enough good.”
Allow me to offer you a few thoughts...
To have hope in this world,
realists and idealists need each other.
They need each other to arrive at a whole and balanced view.
The realist, being logical and objective,
looks at the terrible situation we face and declares:
It doesn’t look good for our future!
The idealist, being a dreamer says,
I know, but the only way it WILL get better
is if we both believe that it CAN get better
and if we work together to make it so!
The realist and idealist must join forces
and become allies in building solutions.
Each has valuable insights
essential to achieving a balanced perspective.
Each sees PART of the truth, but not all.
Whatever situation we are facing
is neither all doom and gloom nor all hopeful.
You have told me: “unfortunately the vision that I have for the future
that I share with those around me is of doom and gloom.”
Perhaps you are spending your time primarily with realists.
I hope you will consider finding ways to begin also spending time
with some idealists who hold a more hopeful view of the future.
Perhaps seek out some who are actively engaged in overcoming
some aspect of a serious problem that greatly concerns you.
Talk with them about the problem.
Find out what gives them hope to keep building.
Maybe join a group of hopeful people working to find a solution
to the problem that has you the most discouraged.
Contributing toward a solution is the best way I know
to lift ourselves up toward a more hopeful view of the future.
We prove to ourselves that we have the ability
to shine our light in the darkness.
We see we actually have the power
to overcome with good
at least a little bit of the evil
that had us paralyzed.
At age 13 I had a vision of what I wanted to do in life and I pursued it until I was 75. Without it I would have not know what to do with my life.
Herr,
How blessed and fortunate you were
to have your vision at 13!
And how admirable that you
faithfully worked all those years
to make it real!
As Stanley would say (see below)
you had your roadmap.
You knew your direction
and what to do to pursue your vision.
In other words, you weren't lost.
And so you arrived
at these peaceful years of the present
that are the fruits of your chosen labors.
You have a great deal to be proud of, Herr.
I am happy for you.
Thank you, that seems like to much praise for doing what I wanted to do. I have no feelings of pride, that seems too arrogant for me. I'm just grateful that I was able to do what I wanted to do and survived to tell about it.
Vision is life’s target. 🎯 It is a roadmap for life’s journey.
Stanley,
Thank you yet again
for contributing your valuable insights.
Wow, your roadmap metaphor
is profound.
You have given me a new awareness.
I now SEE
that our vision
not only gives us hope...
it keeps us from getting LOST.
Thanks for such a flattering compliment. I spent seven years working at a residential male adolescent behavioral treatment facility. Although it was mainly a cognitive/behavioral treatment model, I have always been told since college that psychoanalytic theory seems to pervades much of juvenile psychology. Maybe I have picked up a few things.