The Thing About "Perception"
"Perception" is a word that I find fascinating. I truly appreciate the ancient philosophers who came up with this word. They really knew what they were talking about. (Socrates and his Allegory of the Cave, Descartes...) Our "perception" of things undoubtedly are influenced by our experience and our beliefs. We "perceive" things according to information we readily have. We make sense of things according to what we already know. For example, we perceive that a cup can be either half full or half empty. We perceive that we are healthy and fit from past experience. We are fit because we can do more than we could before. However, perception isn't always reality. I remember my perception of myself during my extremely chubby days. I perceived myself to be fit, very fit. I could walk hours on end exploring a new city. I moved around quickly. I never perceived myself to be big and chubby at all. I perceived myself to be healthy and "fit." I was just...