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Reality?

So tell me, what is your reality?

I have always asked myself how one is supposed to know what reality is. I mean, how do I know if the colours I see are the same you see? That's just a small issue though. Reality seems to be like one of those fun-house mirrors, skewing one way or the other, depending which way it warps.

Body dismorphic disorder is a more extreme example of this: people who see an image in the mirror that is very different to what others see when they look at them. Youngsters with clear skin that see nothing but acne and scaring, others who are thin, even anorexic, and see only masses of fat, but when confronted with another full-bodied person they see no ugliness. Who sees the 'right' reality, and anyway, who is to say that reality is definite?

I got thinking on this topic the other evening when i was chatting to a friend of mine. I have myself been in situation, in which I have been unsure of exactly how rational I was seeing the world, haven't we all, even if not in drastic ways. Hallucinations and other mental health issues can lead to greater disparities in perceived disparities. I mean if you see people, objects and entire scenes that no one else can see, then the conflict in reality can usually be explained through medical reasons, but how are you yourself supposed to make yourself aware?

I myself have never had to question if the things around me are real or 'in my mind'. I have not had to touch the people I am interacting with to make sure that they actually exist and are 'there'. I have never had to second guess what I am seeing and experiencing, at least not to a huge extent. I really have no idea how I would deal with that. Part of me, however, is not sure, simply from a more philosophical perspective, if distinguishing the real and the rational from the un-real and irrational is that simple.

Again and again I have spoken to that friend of mine and have told her to 'rationalise', but I am starting to understand that its simply not that simple. Really. I mean when I was at my worst a few weeks or months ago I seriously felt like I was loosing my mind. It was true for me, real, totally there. I wasn't seeing blue elephants, but close enough.

The whole 'reality' discussion has also come up when speaking about myths or sub-culture beliefs, for instance the pagan believers in fairies, the belief in the healing powers of energy by those who practice reiki and the reality of 'vampire' bloodlust for the members of that sub-culture. Who is to say that these are not the realities of the members of the various communities?

Who is to say what's real?