Perceptions.
But I’ll get back to that.
One of the things we like about coming down to the Cayman Islands, is that it always feels really safe, as Caribbean Islands go. Like. When we visited Costa Rica, it didn’t feel very warm and fuzzy. But here it all seems good.
To continue on with this. Whether I am on vacation or on the moon, my sleep patterns seem to be consistent. I go to sleep most nights around 1 a.m. Sometimes, a little before. And then, every morning I wake up around 5 or 5:30. The Caymans are no different.
And while I am here, I like to be out on the beach, taking a long walk, as soon as the morning light fills up the sky. Today was no different.
So I took my walk, and about 30 minutes into my outing, I came across a couple of people fishing. As I got closer, I could see it was most likely a mother and son. He looked about 20 years old or so. And perhaps a little rough around the edges. I passed them, said “Good Morning” and smiled. The young man gave me a long look, and then gave my camera an even longer look, and then back to me. As I passed them, I felt like there might be danger.
This was the first time I didn’t feel safe down here. I stopped for a second, and considered turning around and asking him if he wanted my camera. But then I continued on, feeling that at any moment I might feel that camera being ripped from my hand.
It didn’t happen. And I am thankful for that.
But that was my perception of the situation. And. It turned out to be wrong. It think many times, our perceptions may be inaccurate and we just don’t realize it.
Apparently, the Buddha said that our perceptions are very often false, and this is something we have to look at. We have to learn to ask ourselves, truly, if our perceptions our accurate.
Our perceptions…. the way that we see the world…. is heavily influenced (and biased) by our own past experiences. It is also guided by our expectations, and also our motivations. And then there are other things that come into play, like our beliefs, emotions, and even our culture.
Entire textbooks have been written on this topic. But basically, our perceptions can either be relatively accurate, or conversely, they can be a little skewed.
And that is the magic trick. Figuring out if our perceptions are correct, or not so much.
Now by tonight…. by perceptions were back on track.
I correctly perceived that Levi and Jesse ate a boatload of Lobster Tails, at “All You Can Eat Lobster Night”…. and then I was able to perceive which people were truly living the dream at Karaoke Night.
I did it my waaaaaayyyyyyy……..
There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.