The Second Gaze - Low Angle
In filmmaking, a low angle is often used to show a sense of power or strength. But for me yesterday, the low angle was more about seeing the world from another's perspective and not to try to portray strength. So, the photo is from where Scout was looking up at the pizza we had for dinner last night. (Side note Goodfellas pizza in Pleasant Ridge was amazing!)
Seeing from another person's perspective is so vital to the way of love. It takes us outside our selves and tries to see the world in another's way. We will never fully inhabit another's view but it can help us to understand and to empathize. It de-centers us and connects us. This, to me, is at the heart of the idea of the second gaze. The first gaze sees only from our perspective whereas the second moves us to seeing from other perspectives. Going back to the quote I shared at the beginning of the month from Richard Rohr...
“In the second gaze, critical thinking and compassion are finally coming together. It is well worth waiting for, because only the second gaze seeks fully and truthfully. It sees itself, the other, and even God with God’s own eyes, the eyes of compassion, which always moves us to act for peace and justice. But it does not reject the necessary clarity of critical thinking, either.”
Richard Rohr, “Contemplation and Compassion: The Second Gaze,” Contemplation in Action, Richard Rohr and Friends (The Crossroad Publishing Company: 2006), 15–16, 18–19, 20.