Perception is everything. Our brains create our individual realities by interpeting the raw information gathered via our senses into an impression that is greatly influenced by past interpretations of events, environments and memories - even if the conclusions reached were inaccurate.
It's a cycle; our senses create impressions, which then generate our perceptions - leading to behaviors and beliefs based on memories of memories and imagined possible future outcomes. The catch-22 is that the effect is cumulative - everything we experience and believe is subjective ... but the more experience we gather, the more reinforced and ingrained those perceptions become, until they appear to us as fact. Because the brain interprets information by filtering what it deems most relevant or useful, we ultimately begin to create the reality we believe in, whether we are conscious of this process or not. In the majority of cases, we are not.
Think of all of the background noises you screen out daily that go unnoticed ... you don't even realize you never heard them because you can't know what you don't experience. However, perhaps one of those sounds alerts your cat - it suddenly freezes attentively. That sound, which was unimportant to your brain, was nevertheless relevant to your cat's brain. Had the cat never reacted, however, there would have been no sign of what you failed to notice ... and that sound would have never existed to you.
Hence, perception is everything. It is the fiber of creation. Many assume that perception is passive, the simple process by which sensory data enters the system. Perception, however, is anything
but passive - it is the active process by which we shape reality and inform ourselves of how to act at any given moment. It is the root of all our thoughts, beliefs and identities.
Perception influences, and is highly influenced by another
"P-word": Perspective.
If light enters the eyes, perspective is the factor that engages and gives shape to this light ... such as a close-up, or side view, or a look through sunglasses. It is the point-of-view of the observer, both in the physical and emotional sense. If you read this sentence from the perspective of a student, it will differ from the reader whose perspective is that of a merchant, or a pastor, or a feminist. Each of these identifiers, when we wear them, color our perspectives like tinted glass.
This blog is a conversaton and documentation of perspective. There are obvious parallels in the realm of writing and photography ... hence the blog is called "prose-pective" ... also a play on the prospective creations/results/insights/ideas that might spring from the melding of words and imagery ... from at least two unique points of view.
This blog will include a record of the perceptions and perspectives of Kurt, a photographer who sometimes writes, and Liz, a writer who occasionally photographs. There may be some videography, music, and other surprises down the line as well.
All eyes and thoughts are welcome here. There exists an open invitation to lay down one lens to try another. Entertain the idea of yourself as someone or something else, until the lines of identity begin to blur and the boundaries of your perception widen.
Or just be entertained.
*Footnote: After writing this post, I looked up "Through a Glass Darkly" and found:
Through A Glass Darkly is an abbreviated form of a much-quoted phrase from the Christian New Testament in 1 Corinthians 13. The phrase is interpreted to mean that humans have an imperfect perception of reality.
1 Corinthians 13:12 contains the phrase
βλεπομεν γαρ αρτι δι εσοπτρου εν αινιγματι
rendered in KJV,
"For now we see through a glass, darkly."
