When you look at yourself, what or rather who do you see?
Do you see you or the you others choose to see?
Someone said something to me the other day that cut through me like broken glass. It bothered me so much that I replayed it in my head for days. Once I got over the sting it occurred to me, not only did this person not understand me, they truly didn't know me. I realized that they interpreted me based on their perception of self. Once I came to that realization it dawned on me that they are simply human.
If you are wondering how I came to that conclusion, I will explain.
We, human-beings, naturally learn from experiences. We formulate opinions based on information gathered through sight and circumstances. We then build on that information by adding our own likes and dislikes. For the most part this adaptive principle works, however, sometimes it can lead to preconceptions and or prejudices. Once I realized that, I took a look at myself from their eyes, walking in their shoes I guess you could say, and I understood them even better. I saw why they misunderstood me and I thought about what to do next.
Should I adjust who I am to appease them, leave well enough alone or try to come to a mutual understanding.
What would you have done?
I chose to leave well enough alone, does that surprise you?
Like I said before, we, human-beings naturally learn from experiences and in my experience the only way to counter a bias is to be an honest reflection of yourself because no matter what someone else chooses to see, you are the only person who knows who you are.
D.V.
9.3.2026
