First Steps to Seeing

Emma Kidd studied the MSc in Holistic Science at Schumacher College, studying under Brian Goodwin and especially Henri Bortoft, whose books will already be known to many readers. Here she builds on their work and that of Goethe to offer a practical means of seeing more dynamically and living life more attentively beyond the abstract concepts that help shape our representation of the world – as also explained in the work of Iain McGilchrist. The way we see influences what we see and we often neglect the immediacy of our senses as our minds are elsewhere. The author provides a series of practical exercises and reflections to enable the reader to attend differently - a new form of mindfulness. The second part of the book provides a fresh approach to life and I was struck by some remarks by Arthur Zajonc that learning to love is also the task of learning to know in its fullest sense, relating cognition with affection. As we experience life more immediately in the now, we also tend to become more grateful and make the most of our experience and relationships. Here, a helpful concept was the 'And Stance' in which we can hold contradictory opposites in mind simultaneously without reducing the complexity of our feelings. We may have to let go of what we think we know if we are to open fully to life – thriving is not merely surviving.