A Contemplative Essay: What Is Reality

A Contemplative Essay: What Is Reality?

I believe we each perceive things differently, and the combination of all our perceptions creates how we view the world, creates our reality.
I’m not going to pretend to know what reality is, but I know what I think it is, and what I think it should be. Reality should be what each and every one of us wants it to be. There should be no duplicate realities, just like there are no two snowflakes the same. What my reality is should never be the same as what your reality is. For each person has different, albeit special, beliefs. And these beliefs should be what, over the years, shape our reality to what it is. Not what somebody else says is going on, not what everyone else is doing, but what our heart says is real. It should not make a difference in my reality that some guy is running down the street naked. For that one man running down the street will never be able to do anything good for me, or bad against me. Even if a car hits that man my life should not change in anyway. What is in my heart is there, has always been there, and will always be there to hold my reality steadfast.
Now I know we have all heard this in advice about the opposite sex over and over again, but for each and every one of us to live our true reality we have to be who we are and act like ourselves every minute of everyday. For to each and every one of us we are what is real and everyone else around us is fake. For us not to do something that we want or for us not to say something that we want to say is taking away from our reality. Every time we take away from our reality we take part of our special little contribution to this world away. Each one of us expects people to be real to them so why should we lie to others and not be real to them and ourselves.
I see reality in this light because; I find it hard to believe that I have the same reality as the serial killer down the street. When he goes on television and says he killed all of those people because everyone was out to get him, that is his reality. His mind may have somewhat altered the perceptions that his reality is based upon, but it was based upon those perceptions nonetheless. I’m sure the little old lady that he has buried under his rose garden was just minding her own business, possibly picking up his trash for him. In his reality, she was probably looking for “dirt” on him. In my reality, on the other hand, I might thank her and cut her grass.
Also, in my opinion, our reality changes as we grow. When we are first born the trees and clouds outside are not part of our reality, because we haven’t even seen them yet. And, when Aunt Pete and Uncle Bob first come to visit, they will just be two loving relatives. The nature of the relationship will not even matter until knowledge on the subject edges into the mind.
The transition from 6th to 7th grade was particularly hurtful to my reality. I wasn’t the big guy in the school anymore. There were older people acting like I was when I was the “King of the Hill”, so to speak. When I got to my senior year it (my reality) took another course. All of a sudden, my classes weren’t so easy anymore, and I wasn’t able to breeze through them like before. Teachers were preparing my fellow classmates and I for college, and they started grading a little tougher, as college professors would.
My point being, reality is not something to be set up against a standard. It is totally abstract from every other reality around it. Life as we know it is nothing but our respective realities meshing together.

Philosophy

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