Considering New Perspectives

On a recent trip, I was able to experience the Catholic celebration of Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Spain and the Muslim celebration of Ramadan in Morocco. Witnessing different religions and expressions of faith—and the cultural traditions surrounding them—offered me a new lens with which to view the world.

While visiting a new city or country is certainly a fantastic way to broaden horizons, there are also a plethora of ways to do this without needing to venture far beyond our own cities. Below are a few broad suggestions for ways to consider new perspectives even without traveling:

Explore restaurants, neighborhoods, and places outside your typical route.

Our culture largely values sameness and tends to see anyone or anything outside our sense of “normal” as threatening. However, intentionally interacting with people living differently than me has only enriched my life and grown my appreciation for other ways of life. Through these experiences, I’ve learned to adopt a slower pace of life, regular hospitality, and exciting foods into my everyday rhythms.

Unless you live in an exceptionally small community, I’d imagine the people in your own city embody a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs. Although we tend to see our routines and preferences as the baseline for what’s typical, in venturing even a few miles outside your normal route, you can experience food, shops, and ways of life that can broaden your horizons.

Consume entertainment and media that don’t center your experience.

We naturally seek out stories that feel familiar. While there’s nothing inherently wrong in this, there’s also tremendous value in reading books or watching movies that center the experiences of people with very different stories than our own.

Reading books (both fiction and non-fiction) about people, cultures, and backgrounds vastly different than mine helped me learn about the world and realize the myriad of ways our experiences shape our lives and beliefs. I’ve never lived in a war-torn city, experienced a natural disaster, or endured racism—but I can read about people who have. Deepening my understanding of that which is different allows me to view those differences with empathy, rather than fear.

Choose curiosity rather than defensiveness or judgment.

I’d argue that while this is the most important, and seemingly simple, it’s also perhaps the hardest. Especially for those of us who grew up in the apologetics era of Christianity, we’ve been conditioned to listen with an ear for argument rather than for understanding. We’ve been told to always be ready to prove our own beliefs while discrediting others. 

Unsurprisingly, this isn’t actually listening. Because listening to argue requires no empathy, it doesn’t lead to deeper understanding of or care for other people. 

Here’s the thing: we can listen with curiosity, ask questions that lead to our own understanding (as opposed to pointed questions attempting to shift their beliefs), and maintain our own distinct beliefs and values. Contrary to what we’ve been told, respecting and understanding others’ opinions and beliefs doesn’t mean we’ve abandoned our own. Rather, it only leads to greater love and kindness (and less fear).

These are merely a few of countless ways to broaden your comfort zone, experience new cultures, and consider new perspectives. As you open yourself to better understanding other people and ways of life, you never know what you may discover.