Lately, I’ve really gotten into the New York Times game Spelling Bee. It’s a word game: there are six letters arranged around one letter in the center (like a daisy). The object is to make as many words as you can from the seven letters, and each of them must contain the center letter.
Usually, I start out pretty strong. After a few minutes, though, I hit a wall. I can’t imagine that there are more words I haven’t found—my brain stops seeing new possibilities.
Last weekend my sister and I were sitting together when I was playing the game. When I ran out of ideas, I passed it over to her. “Can you see what I missed?” In just a few seconds, she identified words I hadn’t been able to see.
The closer we are to something, the more limited our thinking may become. There is real value is getting new eyes, a fresh perspective, on whatever it is you’re looking at.
