Healthy Windows

Animals use their senses to find food, mates, and protection—to survive and thrive. Some even play: watch muskrats sliding down a snow-covered hill.

Think of our human senses as windows: visual, auditory, chemical (smell), and many others. Study neuroanatomy and you learn that each sense connects to a specific part of the brain, which processes the information and shapes our behavior.

When these windows malfunction—when signals cross or understanding falters—consequences follow. For animals and humans alike, faulty perception can mean the difference between safety and danger, connection and isolation. In human relationships, the stakes are high: broken friendships, broken marriages, even suicide or war.

Our senses are windows not just to the external world, but to those around us and even to ourselves. Do we accurately perceive others? Do we accurately perceive ourselves?

In everyday life, these connections matter. When we befriend someone with different political views, we gain insight into different ideas and into one person who holds them. With several such friendships, we usually discover that our assumptions about our political opponents are wrong.

Each of us needs more windows—onto people with different religious beliefs, socioeconomic backgrounds, and life experiences. This broader perspective makes us less judgmental and deepens our capacity for meaningful relationships. It’s difficult to truly know someone without finding affection for them.

Throughout history, spiritual teachers across all traditions have spoken with remarkable consistency: when we struggle to find understanding for those we disagree with, the work lies within ourselves—in clearing and opening our own windows onto the world.