{"id":3307,"date":"2025-05-23T13:15:26","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T13:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/?p=3307"},"modified":"2025-05-23T13:15:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T13:15:28","slug":"when-you-change-the-way-you-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/when-you-change-the-way-you-look\/","title":{"rendered":"When You Change the Way You Look"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When you change the way you look at things,<br>the things you are looking at begin to transform,<br>not because the world itself suddenly rearranges,<br>but because your eyes, your heart, your mind<br>are suddenly awake to new possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think about it,<br>how many times have you walked past a tree,<br>so familiar, so ordinary,<br>that you never truly saw it?<br>But then one day, something shifts,<br>a storm breaks, the sun strikes just right,<br>and suddenly that same tree is a fortress of resilience,<br>its branches a canopy of hope<br>for anyone willing to pause and notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s the same with pain, with struggle, with failure.<br>When you look at your wounds as wounds alone,<br>they sting, they hurt, they remind you of loss.<br>But when you change your gaze,<br>and see those wounds as chapters,<br>as evidence of battles fought and lessons learned,<br>they begin to tell a story of survival, not defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you change the way you look at fear,<br>it no longer chains you to doubt or silence,<br>it becomes a signal, a challenge, a spark that lights the fire<br>to rise higher, reach further, become braver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The things you are looking at your circumstances, your history, your own reflection,<br>do not change on their own.<br>The burden on your shoulders might still weigh heavy.<br>The scars may remain visible.<br>The voices of doubt might still echo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But your perception the way you choose to see,<br>to interpret, to believe can shift the entire landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Look again at the mistakes you made.<br>Not as failures etched in stone,<br>but as steppingstones,<br>each one a lesson dressed in disguise,<br>each one a piece of the mosaic that makes you whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Look again at your loneliness.<br>Not as emptiness or isolation,<br>but as a quiet space where your soul can speak,<br>where you can meet yourself<br>without distraction or pretense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Look again at your fears.<br>See them as shadows cast by your own light,<br>proof that you are stepping out of the dark,<br>proof that you are alive and pushing boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you change the way you look at pain,<br>it becomes a teacher, not a tormentor.<br>When you change the way you look at loss,<br>it becomes a space for gratitude,<br>a reminder of what was, what is, and what might still be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you change the way you look at yourself,<br>the mirror stops reflecting what you think you are,<br>and starts revealing what you could become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s not magic. It\u2019s not a trick.<br>It\u2019s the simple, profound power of choice.<br>The choice to see with eyes wide open,<br>the choice to rewrite your story<br>by shifting your perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because when you change the way you look at things,<br>you start to see beyond the surface,<br>you see the beauty in brokenness,<br>the light in darkness,<br>the strength in vulnerability,<br>the future in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And when that happens,<br>the things you are looking at change,<br>not because the world changed overnight,<br>but because <em>you<\/em> did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I invite you,<br>the next time life feels heavy,<br>The time your heart feels closed,<br>and your vision feels clouded,<br>stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Look at your story through the eyes of compassion.<br>Look at your struggle through the lens of growth.<br>Look at your shadow not as a threat, but as a companion<br>walking with you through every dark and light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because your story is not fixed.<br>Your path is not set in stone.<br>Your power lies in the way you look at the journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And when you change the way you look at things,<br>the things you are looking at,<br>they begin to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And in that change,<br>you find a new you,<br>stronger, wiser, freer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You find hope where there was despair.<br>You find purpose where there was pain.<br>You find light where there was shadow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that, my friend,<br>is the beginning of everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/walkingshadowpoetrykenya\/\">(20+) Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/\">Walking Shadow Poetry &#8211; Grow from what\u2019s meant to kill you.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"I Fight to win spokenword by @WalkingShadowPoetryKenya\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tknyR6FH6Dc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you change the way you look at things,the things you are looking at begin to transform,not because the world itself suddenly rearranges,but because your eyes, your heart, your mindare suddenly awake to new possibilities. Think about it,how many times have you walked past a tree,so familiar, so ordinary,that you never truly saw it?But then [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,97,25,98,1],"tags":[35,49,34,67,50,61,55,53,22,48],"class_list":["post-3307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poem","category-poetry","category-solitude","category-storytime","category-uncategorized","tag-poems","tag-poetess","tag-poetry","tag-preciousowoko","tag-spokenword","tag-spokenwords","tag-stories","tag-story","tag-walkingshadowpoetry","tag-walkingshadowpoetrykenya"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/DSC_4392-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5495,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/they-see-the-baby-not-the-painful-experience\/","url_meta":{"origin":3307,"position":0},"title":"They See the Baby not the painful experience","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"March 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"People see the baby, tiny fingers, soft cheeks,a new life wrapped in warmth, but they don\u2019t always understandWhat it took the motherjust to reach that moment. It started quietly,with a change she could feelbefore anyone else noticed. A body no longer fully hers. Morning sickness that didn\u2019t carewhat time it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Inspiration&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Inspiration","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/inspiration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_2627.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_2627.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_2627.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_2627.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_2627.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3190,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/when-youre-just-a-bridge-they-cross-on-their-way-to-joy\/","url_meta":{"origin":3307,"position":1},"title":"When You\u2019re Just a Bridge They Cross on Their Way to Joy","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"April 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"We meet people.Not just any people,but the kind that walk in silentlycarrying storms behind their eyes,the kind that smile while breaking,laugh while bleeding,pretending they\u2019re finewhen everything inside says otherwise. And somehow,we become their calm.We become their shoulder,their listener,their quiet space,their safe place.We become the bridge between pain and peace,the unspoken\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"poem","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poem\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSC09150-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSC09150-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSC09150-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSC09150-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/DSC09150-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3007,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/spoken-word-the-weight-i-carry-by-walking-shadow-poetry\/","url_meta":{"origin":3307,"position":2},"title":"Spoken Word: The Weight I Carry by walking shadow poetry","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"January 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I carry this weight,Not on my back, but in my chest.It\u2019s heavy, constant, and it doesn\u2019t rest.I\u2019ve tried to be strong,But honestly, how long can I fake being okayWhen everything feels so wrong? Relationships?I got into them, hoping for love,Dreaming of something real, something solid.Instead, I built castles in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"poem","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poem\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"reflection of woman s eye on broken mirror","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/pexels-photo-2282000.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/pexels-photo-2282000.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/pexels-photo-2282000.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/pexels-photo-2282000.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/pexels-photo-2282000.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5451,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/the-one-who-lost-this-is-why-i-speak\/","url_meta":{"origin":3307,"position":3},"title":"The One Who Lost, \u201cThis Is Why I Speak\u201d","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"February 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"You may thinkI don\u2019t notice the pattern. The way my voice lowerswhen I bring them up.The way the room grows quietwhen I start telling it again. Trust me, I know. But there is something you must understand. When someone who shaped your worldsuddenly vanishes,the silence they leave behinddoes not stay\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Art&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Art","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/MG_9467-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/MG_9467-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/MG_9467-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/MG_9467-scaled.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3164,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/regret-is-a-ruthless-teacher-but-i-learned\/","url_meta":{"origin":3307,"position":4},"title":"Regret is a Ruthless Teacher, But I Learned","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"April 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I was left with questions,ones that echoed in my mind like an unanswered call,ones that made my heart sink a little deeper into itself. Was it my body?Was it my heart?Was it something I said, something that didn\u2019t sit right with you?Did I turn you off?Did I say too much,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;poem&quot;","block_context":{"text":"poem","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poem\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/09023f4b49650973a76c7e72bcf6ae06.jpg?fit=236%2C419&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2735,"url":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/choose-to-heal-by-walking-shadow-poetry\/","url_meta":{"origin":3307,"position":5},"title":"Choose to Heal by walking shadow poetry","author":"walking shadow poetry kenya","date":"September 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Stop looking back at the pain you\u2019ve known,The hurt that cut you to the bone.What\u2019s done is done, it\u2019s in the past,But what you do next is what will last. Being hurt was never your choice,But healing is where you find your voice.It\u2019s hard, I know, to let things go,But\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;POETRY&quot;","block_context":{"text":"POETRY","link":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/SPOKENWORDSandMODERNDAYPOETRY\/poetry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"woman with delicate flower in white water","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-6621152.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-6621152.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-6621152.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-6621152.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/pexels-photo-6621152.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3309,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3307\/revisions\/3309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/walkingshadowpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}