One’s Reality

 

 

One’s reality is what it is

Even though it is not

And if that person could really know

Perhaps, he would be shocked.

 

In reality,

Reality is a person’s reality

And this is the reality that person has

Though viewed subjectively.

 

Life is one’s perception:

Perception based on interpretation

Looking through one’s own lens

Coming to one’s conclusion.

 

And this is one’s reality

Which does not always conform

To what many people may consider

To be their subjective norm.

 

 

 

My reality may differ from yours

But it is mine nevertheless

And if it is working out for me

Then for me it is best.

 

My mother was on a bus

While sitting in her wheel chair

Safe and sound in a seniors’ home

And I was also there.

 

She was particularly alarmed

At how the driver was driving,

This was recklessly, to say the least,

And my mother wasn’t joking.

 

I calmly said to my mother,

“One thing I will ask you to do.

Wait till the bus stops before getting off,

That’s all I ask of you.”

 

Yes, I went along with her

Because it was her reality,

That’s how it seemed to her at that time

And she was not being funny.

 

  

In reality, her reality

Was that she was riding on a bus,

And she could not in reality understand

Why the driver was in such a rush.

 

This also holds for mad people

Or rather, the mentally insane,

But they should not be taken lightly-

They are not playing a game.

 

In reality, it’s their reality-

That is how it appears to them,

They need a secure and safe place

To help solve their problem.

 

But for every one of us

Whether considered sane or insane,

In reality, reality is our reality

Whatever we may claim.

 

Stewart Russell © May 29, 2023