THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY

Reality is not what it seems to be,
nor is it otherwise.
--- Hibbs

"You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you."
--- Samuel McCord

 “It has been said, all is an illusion. That's an insufficient distinction; more accurately, it is all a perception."
--- Oscar Wilde

THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY.

Besides Paul of Tarsus, Ernest Hemingway used that phrase in relation to how most people view the world around them.

He was a journalist, having to telegraph his war reports at 5 cents a word.  

He had to use the right words to paint a picture of a world half a globe away so well that his readers could "see" it.

How does a blind person see the world? 

 Using their other senses, but also using their interior subjective model of the world, 

constructed from experience, memory, logical inference, and our brain's ability to spatially map out it's own internal representation of our surroundings.

Subjective model of the world.  We sighted people depend on that as well.  But it is, indeed, subjective.

Most of us are self-blinded.  We see, but do we observe?

What is the color of your dentist's eyes?  It's not like he isn't close enough to your face to notice.  But 80% of Americans could not say.

Say they are blue.  Is the "blue" you see, the same color that I see as "blue?"

Invite a good policeman or journalist to a home-cooked meal, 

and a year later he will be able to tell if your toaster was stainless steel or enamel --

how many chairs were around the kitchen table and how many cabinets there were and whether or not you wore ear-rings.

You don't see as I see.

But if you want to be a writer, you must see the world if you are to describe it to readers.

Hemingway suggested that whenever you found yourself waiting in a public area that you observe the people around you:

How they moved, how they talked (with their hands or stiffly -- and why did they do so)  Study their gestures.  

Study how they got in or out of a car, entered a room (confidently or as if expecting an attack or self-absorbed.)

Our quality of life depends on the world we allow ourselves to see.  

Are you seeing through a filter of your fears or straining to observe the world as it really is?

The world you see is actually a mirror of your beliefs.  To an innocent child, the world is innocent.  To a con artist, the world is filled with either sheep or wolves.

  Beliefs come from past experiences and that's why the environment the person grows in determines the way he sees the world to a great extent.

 The way that you interpret your life experience creates your identity.

Your identity shapes your how you make choices.

Your choices shape your character.

And your character shapes your destiny.

 
“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be."
 --- Mahatma Gandhi 


 When you get locked into a view of the world you get stuck in routines and you lose sight of different viewpoints.

Most people train themselves to see only what they need to survive.  But don't you want to do more than survive, to truly live?

 We perceive the world as real, but we're doing a lot of spinning as the information comes in. 

Our reality is only one facet to the jewel that is the true reality.  We must train ourselves to see the other facets by opening up our perceptions.

 You must realize that even though you assume your awareness is reality, 

there is so much you're not seeing and so much that's a part of other people's reality. 

The usefulness is recognizing this humility when making a hypothesis.


You will find yourself thinking instead of just reacting.

Rearrange your bedroom, putting things in different spots.  Take an alternate route home from work.  Expand your world literally.  Observe the new homes, new streets, new people you pass.

How many trees can you see from your front window?  Count them.  Your world has just broadened and become more concrete.

You may discover you have been living in a cramped, black and white world.  See the colors.  Try to imagine what a child would be seeing through your eyes.

What other things do you think we could do to expand our scope of life?

  Is there a way we could make the movie of our life into IMAX?