a matter of perspective

my high school students were none too pleased that they have a real final in...art class. i mean, it's art, right? (did they think we were going to fingerpaint?) their 1/4" study guide for friday took me more than a few hours to write and includes definitions of vocabulary terms, short answer, history, philosophy of creativity and basic applications of art criticism that we've learned this year. i conceded to give them extra credit for defining terms in the greek or latin.

perspective, or perspicere (latin for "to see through") has been on my mind a lot lately. not just as an art term, but as a way of being; life events being relative to how we understand things from past experience. put another way, one person's hang nail is another person's hiroshima.

it's not that little things don't bother me. cough drop wrappers at a concert. clapping between orchestral movements. inane traffic tickets. people who breathe loudly through their nose in quiet reading rooms. stepping in water after donning fuzzy socks. tiresome, all of them.

but they're not cancer. or bombs. or someone's missing child.
eternity's just in my heart more than usual right now for reasons beyond my understanding.
i'm asking myself what "seeing through" each situation in the day might profit?

i'm sure my students will do well on their test.
as for life's final exam, perspicere.