Perception

It's funny how people perceive you, or how hard you desperately try for them to perceive you. You would say one thing, and mean another. You can smile through gritted teeth and be told you were the nicest thing on earth. You could go out of your way, only to be told you've wasted your time and that isn't the way things are done. Is it as easy as Descartes put it in the 17th century, 'I think, therefore I am'?

I know I am here, as Descartes asserts, therefore I must exist...though as I am, or as other people perceive me? Why are there so many faces, do we mould our existence to each person we come across? Are we kind to the friendly neighbour we hardly know, then moody to the partner we're angry at for not putting away the milk? Does this make us several different people in one, or one person with several different personalities? And there is the fine line between sanity and schizophrenia.

How many people actually are true to their own feelings and moods when they interact? If one wakes up in a mood, do they reply when asked how they are, 'I'm feeling horrible today, though thanks for your concern'? Rarely, it's too much effort, and who the hell cares. Interestingly, do we call those people who are dictated by their feelings mentally ill, because they live by their lows, and ride the highs when they come by? It seems so.

So to the issue of perception, coupled with existence. Existing is all about perception. Privately we live as well as we can cope, some better than others. It's when people judge that existence that we want to manipulate their perception and begin to act in a way that may not be true to our feelings.