Perception is a powerful filter.  We all see the world through a personal series of overlays or transparencies that are so embedded in our daily existence, that most of the time, we forget (or don’t know) that they’re there.

Our perceptions frame every experience and determine how we view the situations and events of our lives.  They become the lenses and gels from which we view every experience.  Focusing on and coloring the things we encounter and immediately aligning and defining them based on our beliefs.

Our perceptions seem real.  So well-established, that oftentimes, they seem impermeable. Probably because they are forged from our past experiences, memories, relationship dynamics, culture, etc… Our beliefs, attitudes, values, all melded together to provide a world view that is unique to each one of us!

We may feel as if we have found a tribe that seems to look through the same filters.  But if we really took the time to get into the specifics, we would find that there are always differences.  Sometimes subtle, sometimes stark.  We are all part of the same continuum… yet invariably unique.

Think of when you have recalled a childhood experience that is vivid and tangible for you; yet the friend or sibling you shared it with can’t remember it or has a completely different memory or view of what happened.  Two different perceptions of the same event.

Our perceptions are so much apart of us, they are almost impossible to experience as separate.  Almost.

For those who choose to winnow the limiting layers of beliefs, patterns, and habits that influence our decision making.., we often find that our perception begins to shift.  Something that we viewed clearly, seems foggy.  Something that didn’t resonate begins to offer a unique harmony.., or vis-a-versa.  Our perception gets cracked or tweaked.  Sometimes… they simply falls away.

We are living in a time of great chaos.  The turmoil around us is amplified.  The systems and structures as we know them are falling apart or are unsustainable in their current form.  And because we each view them though our unique perceptions based on the past, it can be challenging to suss out what is happening in the present moment… let alone where we’re headed!

The old systems and structures are struggling and are in a fight for their lives.  They are desperately trying to hang on to how it use to be… while at the same time, something new is emerging because evolution is inevitable.

This creates a huge sense of separation for many people.  The us against them… good / bad… right / wrong… masculine / feminine… white / black… conservative / progressive… religious / secular, etc.  It is easy to feel divided as we straddle the shifts happening around us.

But it is this very sense of separation that is helping many of us to shift our perceptions.  Separation is painful.  It hurts.  Even though it seems like the easiest (or only) path right now… “choose a side” is not a generative or sustaining energy.  It simply limits and restricts.

Instead, we are finding that our perceptions are mailable.  Things that in the past would have us dig in our heels or felt definitive.., now feel different and other options are being revealed.  Our desire for something more than simply being pitted against one another… or being divided into groups, opens us up to new possibilities.  And those possibilities in turn are changing our perception.

The good news is we don’t need to know where all of this is leading us.  The truth is regardless what paths we’re walking on, everything we encounter will look and feel different when we are looking though our new and emerging perceptions.

That sense of separation or division may have a familiar tug.., however, it is based on fear and scarcity and it just won’t feel as compelling as the new paradigm of possibility we’re stepping into.

Yeah.., I like this direction.