The Truth about Reality
What is reality? Wikipedia defines it as “the state of things as they actually exist,” which doesn’t give us much to go on. When we talk about “reality” we are usually referring to things in the observable world – things we can see, hear and touch. If we can experience it with our senses and if I experience what you experience, then it is real. We use the expression “it’s just in your mind” to describe something as unreal because what is real is what is out there and not what is “in here.”
But is reality really what is out there? I argue that what you experience in your mind is just as real if not more real than what you experience in your life. How can I make this claim?
Just as each of us has a certain outer reality, a job, a home, a family, friends and certain life circumstances, we each have an internal reality. Our inner world is just as individual as our outer world. We carry it around with us everywhere we go. Our inner world is filled with sights, sounds, feelings, beliefs, ideas, interpretations and values. Behind the scenes in our mind we have systems of thinking, patterns of perception and philosophies of life that drive what we imagine, perceive expect and feel.
Our inner world is far more complex, dynamic and powerful than our outer world. Our outer world has limitations, but our inner world does not. In the theater of the mind we can imagine and envision anything. We can believe anything, expect anything, conceive of anything.
Everyday we live virtual fantasies. Some of us live out our dreams in our minds. We are the hero or heroine of our own adventure and live lives full or meaning and purpose. Others live out horror stories in which they experience their worst nightmares daily.
In every moment, what is going on in the theater of the mind and even behind the scenes at the abstract and conceptual levels of beliefs, values and interpretations drives our emotions, our decisions and our actions. It controls our thinking and our behaviour. What is beneath the surface is responsible for the results we create in our life. But if our inner world is not real, how can it have so much power to drive our thoughts, feelings and actions?
In our society we have come to deem real that which is shared experience. If I can see it and you can see it, it is real. If I can touch it or hear it, it’s real. But we can’t see or feel bacteria or viruses and yet we know they exist. We can’t see UV rays and yet we know they are real. In reality, what goes on in the mind is real inner reality. The difference between inner and outer reality is merely that it is not shared, but just because we don’t have the same inner world, doesn’t mean each of our inner worlds are not real. In fact, most people live out of their inner worlds and have little grasp on “reality!”
In a way, since we all see inner picture and hear inner voices and sounds, we are all a bit schizophrenic. What makes us different from those with the diagnosis? We have a way of differentiating between what is shared reality and what is not. We know that other people can’t see the pictures and hear the voices in our heads and we know that they are just in our mind.
Reality is perception. Your inner world is far more real than your outer world. What you experience within colours your perceptions and shapes your understanding of life and the world, which controls your actions and thus your results.
I battled with depression for many years and it was only when I began to see my inner world as more important than my outer world that I could free myself of my misery. Depression is real, but does it exist out there in the world, or is it an internal reality, a veil that clouds our very real subjective experience?
In fact, one of the strategies I used to overcome depression was daydreaming. When I didn’t feel the way I wanted to feel I would daydream about things I wanted. This is probably the best thing I could have done because I would immediately start to feel better. Scientific studies show that what goes on in the mind affects the body. When you change your thoughts, neurotransmitters are released and reach every cell in the body. By visualizing happy things, I was spreading happy chemicals throughout my body.
The mind has infinite capacity. With the mind’s eye we can see the most incredible internal images with bright and vivid colours, dynamic movement and full of life, or we can envision dark and frightening scenes that would make anyone shudder. We can live our own greatest fantasy our own worst nightmare. We can hear music that fills us with energy, sounds and voices that empower us, or we can speak to ourselves in a way that simply brings us down. We have the potential to feel sadness, anger and guilt just as much as we can experience bliss, awe and ecstasy.
When you realize that your internal reality is just as real as your outer, you begin to see how important it is to make sure your inner world is everything you want. Your outer world depends on it.
