“Keep your eyes on the prize,” a poignant saying suggests, but what is the prize? The origin of the phrase is attributed to civil rights activist Alice Wine’s lyrics for her hymn, “Keep Your Hand on the Plow” (1956). A documentary (aired in 1987) re-invigorated the song’s message to instill motivation in African Americans working for the prized gem of equal rights.
Decades later, we still need to keep eyes on the prize of equality for ALL. But what about those who have tunnel vision?
The red brittle star, cousin of the starfish, sea urchin, and sea cucumber, contends with underwater tunnels but has no eyes. However, unlike the emperor who has no clothes, the brittle star is clothed in “eyesight!” Light-sensing cells or photoreceptors cover its body and pigment cells. Unbelievably, brittle stars can escape predators deep in the ocean due to their entire skeleton containing about 10,000 spherically domed crystals that operate as vison.
Furthermore, if an imminent attacker approaches, the brittle star breaks off the body part close to the predator and regrows it. In addition, the brittle star is a colorful character, as it makes color changes to correspond to available light in surroundings. From its reddish-brown daytime hiding color, the brittle star turns beige in nighttime foraging for food.
All of this action arises from a diffuse nervous system, but without a head or brain. An international team of scientists (physicists, chemists, and biologists) consider the genius of the red brittle star. The structure of its all-eyes-on-deck sight is studied as a prototype for tiny lenses for use in computer technology.
Mental tunnel “vision” in humans refers to a narrowing of one’s focus to a single point of view. The “tunnel” is a loss of an all-sides peripheral vision – even common sense may go unnoticed. Warning signals are also overlooked. While anxiety (leading to flight-fight-freeze mode) is often the reason for one’s psychological tunnel vision, other emotional states such as anger, frustration, or depression also limit one’s ability to evaluate incoming information. Consider the Gambian proverb: “If your only tool is a hammer, you will see every problem as a nail.”
A result of tunnel vision is that one is simply unaware of what they are not “seeing.” Furthermore, a person with such blockages is rigid, tending to become irritated with anyone who is an interrupter of their particular focus.
The first step in locating ANY part of behavior in oneself is to take a few long, slow breaths. Often, the tunnel-vision trait is accompanied by rapid breathing alongside an indignant stance, as in “Duh…you don’t get it!” However, it is not possible to change anyone else’s colorful character; we are responsible for our own changes.
Let’s look for “available light” in our present surroundings. Can we make our light-sensing pearls as active as those of the red brittle star?
Pearls of Peace (PoP) Quiz
211. When do you catch yourself having tunnel vision?
212. What steps might you take to broaden your focus?
Pearls of Peace: A Family Psychologist’s Circle-of-Life Blog 