Tunnel Vision vs. 1,000 Flowers

Tunnel vision is something many of us have been susceptible to, myself included. We become so attached to an object, idea, person, or outcome that we almost treat it as a life force. We think about this thing so much to the point of obsession and we develop the idea that if we don’t think about this thing in the unhealthy way that this thing won’t come to fruition. For some, this is obtaining a specific luxury car or creating some sort of a relationship with a person that we have put on a pedestal.

However, most of the time this obsession surrounds an outcome in our future.

Many of us are taught the belief that if we don’t think about this possible outcome to an obsession and work to get it with any means possible that this outcome won’t happen. All the hard work and desires that we put into this one thing just will vanish, because we didn’t focus every aspect of our being on this one thing. This just simply isn’t true.

I fall into this category of tunnel vision, too. For the past six-plus years of my life, I have devoted most of my time and energy to the art world. First, I studied art history, and then I went to graduate school in the hopes of working in a gallery, museum, or auction house. Most of my experience was talking about, thinking about, or trying to create art (emphasis on the word trying). Essentially, thinking about visual art became as important to me as eating or breathing. It quickly became more than an obsession to me. More than that, I would obsessively fantasize about what my career would be. So not only was my present centered around art, but also my thoughts toward the future. I wasn’t even aware that I was doing this, I just considered myself to be fairly ambitious. I am sure many of us have our own version of this story of their own tunnel vision.  

Although this one thing might be a beautiful thing, this outlook is actually quite unhealthy and unrealistic. First off, how are we possibly going to devote every hour of the day and every fiber of our being on one thing. It just isn’t physically possible so we are essentially setting ourselves up for failure. However, it's far more than that.

I think we are taught to be this way in Western capitalist culture because we look at this as being hyper-ambitious, which is encouraged. Not only are we working extremely hard for what we want (meritocracy-oriented), but we are forging our own paths (individualistic). Both of these attributes might be the most celebrated traits in our culture. However, done to the degree that many of us are, it is pretty dubious for our well-beings. 

Let’s take into consideration the 1,000 flowers metaphor. If we focus our entire energy on one or two flowers, we are missing out on the other 998 flowers that are available to us. 

We are taught from birth in this society that individuals typically have only one thing that they are very good at, if they are lucky they may even have two things. These skills that we may be inherently “good” at become considered our talents. If we learn about these talents in childhood, we are most likely taught to stick to this one thing for the rest of our lives, essentially. We can see this with musiciens, artists, scientists, and athletes. We may even be fortune enough where these talents are also our passions. While being passionate about something is fulfilling, problems may develop if that is the only thing we spend our time on and thinking about. This is one magnificent flower, but there are infinitely more flowers for us to devote some of our energy to!

I think this idea of one true talent or one true purpose is actually pretty limiting for us as humans. Humans are far more dynamic than this concept! Although I have loved learning about and giving most of my energy towards the visual arts, I have been so consumed by it that I have missed out on other beautiful things and attributes. Up until my time in undergrad, I had believed that I should stick to the humanities because those were the subjects that I felt “good” at. It wasn’t until I took a course in genetics my sophomore year that I realized that I had any sort of interest in other fields. Not only did I do well in this course on genetics, but I really enjoyed it. If I hadn’t been forced to take a science course, I would never have discovered this interest because I would never have lifted my head up long enough to see an interest in anything other than the humanities.

As humans, we are all versatile by nature. We are choosing to not explore ourselves and our interests because we are taught that to be the most successful humans we need to stick to one thing and continue doing that thing for the rest of our lives. Although we may consider this thing to be our passion, if we focus our energy on only that one thing for too long, it may become not as special to us as it once was. Not only may it lose its luster, but this can lead to severe burnout.

I had a close friend in high school who was a phenomenal piano player. He developed his talent as a small child and was even considered a prodigy. He has the ability to hear a song and then is able to play that song verbatim without looking at any of the notes. He just can hear it once and then play. He excelled in other instruments, as well. Needless to say, he had a “talent” for music. I was surprised and kind of sad to hear that he wasn’t pursuing any sort of music degree in college. He actually didn’t even really enjoy playing the piano at all once we graduated high school. Although he was naturally gifted in this one area, he stopped playing all together because he devoted a significant portion of his childhood to it, and as a result just burned out. Last I heard, he doesn’t play the piano much for pleasure anymore and moved his energy onto medicine.

There are not only these extreme side-effects to tunnel vision, but our lives are just less fulfilled, in general. Simply put, we are just missing out on too much. Don’t get me wrong, I have tunnel vision in my life because it stemmed from a passion, but it has become an obsession. One is very healthy for us, while the other is not. 

Over the past couple of years, I have discovered my passion for creating larger human connections, learning about different cultures and theologies, and just learning about how individuals experience the world. When I first became aware of this passion, it worried me, because it kind of scared me that I liked something as much as something I had already devoted so much time to. I thought, “does this mean that I have to completely shift my life and pursue this thing?” This might sound extreme, but growing up in a meritocratic society can do this to you. 

But the truth is, having other things that we love and are passionate about expand our lives, and make us so much more fulfilled. By making the effort to discover other flowers in my life has allowed me to feel more appreciative and excited when I do return my energy to the visual arts. I don’t feel as much burnout, in fact, I feel more content with my life, in general. 

By lifting our heads up to new things and experiences allows us to have a more full and meaningful experience. I once thought  there was only one main flower in my life, but now I am aware that there is a whole meadow full of them. I can’t wait to discover and explore them. I hope you choose to, as well.