I was talking about photography on the phone yesterday when the Grasshopper snapped in and said, “You can’t focus on what you can’t see.” My chat partner said, “Wow, what a metaphor.”

When you’re in the dark about something, it’s truly hard to focus. Someone may offer you their most sage piece of advice but it won’t click if you remain in the darkroom.

What keeps us from seeing? Blinders, of course.

Blinders are learned attitudes and beliefs that haven’t seen the light of day.

I just watched the HBO documentary on Scientology. If you want to view some beliefs that become exposed when light is shined upon them, then you’ll benefit from watching.

We all have as many unsubstantiated and obtuse beliefs as the documentary shows about Scientology, but we rarely bring them out of the dark for inspection.

We certainly believe in things we can’t see, like the wind or gravity, but we can verify their results. That’s not the case with most of our beliefs.

Light is the tool of verification. Have the chutzpah to bring something you believe into the light and focus on it sharply. Then you’ll be able to see details that were missing while they stayed in the dark.

Don’t defend your beliefs if you can’t verify them. You can certainly hold on to them but defending them just makes you look silly. I’ve quoted my sage, hypnosis teacher Dave Dobson on this before but it bears repeating. Dr. Dave said, “Theory is bullshit and defending your theory is bullshit squared.” Just substitute “belief” for “theory” and you’ll get the same result.

Muster the courage to expose your beliefs to the light of day where you can focus on them, and you’re likely to see something new develop.

All the best,

John