A Matter of Perception
Three Worlds by M.C. Escher, December 1955
As we step into 2022, we may be flooded by the collision of hopes for the New Year with the conflicting reality of rising pandemic numbers, or other negative situations that we may currently experience in our lives. We might wish to quickly wave the problems away with a magic wand to change the current reality into something more desirable.
But what is reality? Clearly, life experience shows us that our reality is made of a combination of individual and collectively agreed upon experiences. For instance, we all agree that the sky is blue. Gases and particles in Earth's atmosphere scatter our sun’s light in all directions. Because blue light is scattered more than other colors and because it travels as shorter, smaller waves, we (those with human eyes) see a blue sky. This is an example of collective reality. Conversely, individual reality is based on certain individual life experiences, temperament, and interactions from our external world which inform perceptions and beliefs. This is part of the reason why those who have grown up together in the same family unit often do not have the identical experiences or perceptions as their siblings might. They may have memories that they have agreed upon, but their own reality may be very individualized due to individual thoughts and emotions, which inform certain perceptions of the world.
In shamanism, it is understood that there are many realities, but that we create that reality in which we feed. It’s important to understand that denying the perceptions of one’s experience does not serve, but how we choose to respond to an experience holds much power. For instance, if it begins to snow, we don’t deny that it is snowing, but we may have differing perceptions about snow that results in whether we dislike, like, or even love the snow. The essence of the snow doesn’t change, but our experience of it does. If we perceive the snow as beautiful crystalline fairies blessing us with tiny miraculous mandalas, our experience of snow will be positive. We might welcome the snow, and stand outside in the flakes with open arms. But, if we only think of the labor of shoveling, plowing, and the limitations of driving due to poor road conditions because of the snow, our perception of snow will be negative. Perceptions are also affected by external factors. So, if your friends or immediate family complain about snow, odds are that you will adopt that perception and not see the snow as a positive experience. If you have young children, however, you may at times perceive the snow as wondrous as they do.
When I was severely ill, my first perception of the state I was in was very dire. I gave the illness power over me. Because I attributed every symptom to the illness, I allowed it to disempower me. I became more and more scared of my symptoms, and as a result, grew more and more disabled. After a period of years and hitting rock bottom, I changed my perception of the illness. I began to see the illness as a tough-love teacher. As I began surrendering to the lessons the illness brought me, I began to relinquish my hold on the old life I lost as a teacher of young children. I took my power back, and turned to face the new life awaiting - as mysterious and foggy as it was. I had to spend time going within to ask myself, What does the life that I want look and feel like? Once I saw that vision, I grabbed onto it and wouldn’t let go.
This change in perception wasn’t easy, and it didn’t happen quickly. Although I was not in denial of the severity of the illness, I learned that moving through challenges takes a bit of acceptance of the current reality, mixed with surrender of the past, and a strong envisioning of what is actually possible. In essence, we could boil down most of our challenges with a certain formula: grief > acceptance > surrender > envisioning that eventually creates a change of perception.
Does your perception feed your dreams, joys, and victories or your fears, anger, or health? What is it in this moment that concerns you, scares you, triggers, or angers you that if you could change the perception of, would alleviate your suffering?
