It frees us to shut off our autopilot, to operate with more flexibility when we face challenges. But seeing the whole elephant, the whole system as an emotional unit, opens things up. It’s a convincing, satisfying story when there are people to blame and villains to label. When anxiety goes up, we cling to what we sense from our corner. I can’t think of a better metaphor for the work I try to do with individuals and families. He understands the creature for what it is. The debate continues, until the seventh mouse runs up one side of the elephant and down the other.
The third finds the tusk and argues that it’s a spear. The second feels the trunk and calls it a snake. The first mouse touches the elephant’s foot and thinks he’s found a pillar. One of my three-year-old’s favorite books is a story about seven blind mice who come across an elephant. “Knowing in part may make a fine tale, but wisdom comes from seeing the whole.” – Seven Blind Mice
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