Too Close For Clarity

Do you remember those “magic eye” optical illusions they used to print in the Sunday paper?

(Do you remember the Sunday paper??? The times they are a changin’…)

Do you remember how the image only became clear once you got far enough away from the paper to make it out? With the newspaper held close to your nose— you saw nothing. But as you slowly pulled the paper further out and away from your face, all the while remaining focused (but not too focused lest you “lose” the image) suddenly, a picture revealed itself. A picture that was impossible to see up close. A picture that required distance and just the right amount of focus to be seen.

How often are we too close to things in our lives to really see what’s going on?

In the work comp world that many of you reading this live in, we’re up close to so many real, serious problems for people on a near-daily basis. No matter which “side” we’re on, we’re dealing with folks who are really going through it— physically, financially, emotionally. And yet because we are so close to the problem because it’s what we see every day, it’s sometimes hard to “pull the newspaper away” and see the picture for what it really is.

This is one reason we believe so strongly in mediation. Gathering all the affected parties for a conversation slows down the whirlwind process, just for a moment, and allows us to “pull the paper away” so to speak, so that we may all begin to see a clearer image emerge.

But this isn’t just a work comp thing.

It’s a marriage thing.

A raising kids thing.

A friendship thing.

A business partnership thing.

It’s a life thing.

Sometimes the picture is fuzzy because we’re too close to the problem. We need only step back, but stay focused, so the clearer image can be seen.