ILLUSION

What is Illusion if not incorrect perception?

Nature is full of Illusions and tricks that play with our minds—creatures that blend into their surroundings so they cannot be detected, the horizon giving us the effect of the world being flat, the waning and waxing of the moon, and a mirage in the desert—unexpected occurrences that momentarily stun us with their provocative deception.

Then there are the illusions created by people.  Delicious deserts and gourmet foods that make us sick to our stomachs, the radiant smile that hides a mean spirit, and a homeless man who has a rich past are all tricks.  They are all cunning displays of the universe’s need to play. 

Illusion is not—in its pureness—harmful, though it can be.  This cunning choice of games created by the Wonder of It All is designed to keep us on our feet. 

Illusion requires the Utmost Attention.  If you are truly observing—not just what your five senses tell you, but what your heart, or your instincts, perceive—then illusion cannot fool you.  Columbus was not fooled by the tricks the horizon played with him.  He was tuned into his instincts, and he knew the truth.        

Illusion forces us to engage our intuition, and not be mentally idle—that way we have a better chance of survival.  And it’s all about Survival.

Illusion may be something you cannot see—like the optical illusion—until you change your view.   Illusion may be something you cannot hear—like a background drone—but your body senses it and makes you uneasy. 

That’s life, and Illusion rules!  And you thought love ruled?  Look again,  and count how many times we have all fallen in love with an illusion. 

What we see when we are young, looks completely different when we are older.  What we see in the two-dimensional mirror is definitely not what others see when they look at us in the three dimensional world.  What we see in a stranger looks totally different, once the stranger has become familiar.  The charm of a person could hide a treacherous truth, while the forlorn in a person could contain a sensitive beauty.

The spoken words of another can be confused, as we mix them with the chatter inside our own heads.  What we are hoping a person will say may override what they are actually saying. 

Noises in the atmosphere can sound like a variety of familiar things, or they can echo unnamed and unknown.  Sound can affect our bodies and emotions, though our eardrums may perceive nothing.    

Feelings may elude us at the moment of an Emotional Sensation—fooling us into believing we are unaffected—if the feelings are too overwhelming to digest at the time.  Or for those of us who are uncomfortable with our feelings, Illusion gives us the ability to pretend the sensation has actually disappeared. (Another trick of illusion, for nothing ever really disappears.)    

In the case of the absent Emotions, Illusion temporarily shifts and shoves them from the feelings of the body to the calculations of the mind!  

Illusion is so prevailing that most of us do not know who we are.  We hide behind performances, becoming whatever disguise and costume we have created—because we've lost the the truth behind our disguise.

Illusion is so rampant in our world that the necessity for Vices—to numb our feelings and show us what we want to see—is, virtually, mandatory. 
For who can live in a disorderly world full of falseness, without a nice assortment of Vices to distract, disorient—and disguise the masks we’re forced to witness by the day?

Disguise the masks?  We endure these self-created covers hiding reality, and then we place, yet, another cover on top of them. The Modern World is a continuum of Masks—faces never knowing their own souls, and no one appearing as they truly are—forever we mask the masks with our vices, for the simple fact that we cannot handle the snuffing of the truth with a false covering.

We consume Vices to alter the appearance of the facade, to numb our souls to feel and perceive as little as possible—draining ourselves while doing so—to pretend like we don’t notice the deception.  Because being inundated by the Illusion is so...well…false.  (Maybe one of the reasons adults are so obsessed with Halloween and masquerades is because before the evening has ended, we will see who's on the other side of the mask.)    

But what we really want is for people to be real; we want them to be themselves.  When we are constantly obliged to face a mask, regularly induced to witness a deception, and perpetually aroused to swallow the Illusion, the instant we walk out the front door, it’s no wonder we gobble Vices to filter our senses! 

The problem with this constant masking, is our senses cannot handle the pretension.  They are wired for survival, and they must have the truth.

So when Illusion plays with you, listen to your heart—learn the sound of your center—and Pay Attention to what your instincts are gathering. 

In this state, your emotions will know what is real, making you real.