There is a pretty well-known story about Columbus first visiting a new land. The natives could not even see his ship, because they had no conceptualization of what a ship was. Their ‘reality filters’ couldn’t make sense of the information in front of them and, as a result, simply omitted it entirely.
Whether you believe this story or not, it is a beautiful example of the point that I want to stress – we all see what we want to see. We hear what we want to hear. Our judgments, beliefs and experiences mold the way we view the world around us – often omitting information that we have labeled irrelevant, or on the other hand, causing a magnified response to something.
Consider something as simple as a person sitting down to eat at a restaurant who doesn’t eat animal products. They would effortlessly overlook items on the menu that contain meat and aren’t relevant to them. Consider how most people would react to seeing a swastika being promoted due to its association with the Nazi regime, when the symbol dates much further back and has very positive connotations. Consider the conservative mother’s reaction to their daughter dressing scantily, when by another person’s measure it’s perfectly normal. Our opinions and expectations, quite literally, shape the way we experience this thing we call life. This lens of perception allows, excludes, or dramatizes information based on our unique filters. We would be wise to identify what filters we are using and assess their relevance to the growing versions of us. Let us open our eyes to all the possibilities the world provides and not limit its experiences in unawareness. Life can be as expansive or compressed as you want it to be. It is important this choice is made consciously.