This story is one of my personal favourites and comes in handy while taking a session on perception.

The story of a window…

A couple of days after a young couple moves neighbourhood, the woman looks out the window of her dining room as they are having their breakfast and sees her neighbour hang the wash outside.

 

“The laundry is not very clean. Maybe, she needs a new detergent,” she observes.

The husband looks out and back at her but remains largely silent.

This ritual of them having breakfast at that particular time coincides with the neighbouring woman hanging her wash continues for the rest of the week.  Each time she would make the same observation and every time, it would not elicit any response from her husband.

One Saturday morning,  the woman is surprised to see nice, clean wash on the line and makes a comment to her husband,  “Look, she has finally learnt the art of washing clothes! I wonder, who taught her to wash ?”

The husband said,  “I got up early and having time in my hands cleaned our window!”

****

And so it is with life…It is our perceptions that make us see what we see or be what we are. We often make remarks without finding out if it is our lens that is faulty… unclean? Or it could be what we want to see. Being judgmental is our default mode when we jump to our conclusions.  When we see a child throwing a tantrum, we automatically question the parenting skills.

What is perception?

The dictionary meaning says it is an awareness that comes through your senses and the way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted.

The word itself derives from Middle English percepcioun (meaning “understanding”) and Latin perceptio (meaning “gathering,” “collecting,” or “receiving”).

One of the greatest worry about perception is stereotyping – the most predominant quality of perception that makes us generalize.  Recently someone was bemoaning the fact that her late mother who was rather over-weight was only asked to reduce by all doctors rather than diagnosing the inherent problem.

We look at a fat person and believe that they either eat too much or exercise too little.  We look at slim person and come to the conclusion that they must be fit.

A person driving a red car is immediately slotted as a flashy person.

On the other hand, if you like a person, nothing he or she does can go wrong for you can only see the halo around the head ( Halo effect). Unfortunately, these kinds of perceptions can lead to distortions and lead to biases.

Like a boss who appreciate a person sitting late rather than one who does his work within the 9 -6 time frame. Or someone talkative is considered to be quite shallow rather than the quieter personality who is expected to know more or the one who is an introvert is not given a platform to air out her opinion at meetings.

Have you ever been surprised by the way someone else sees you? We have had people saying something that we know is not true at all…It is there perception of you.

If a “perception” problem is dogging you, remember that a simple adjustment in your own thoughts and behavior might be just the springboard you need to a whole new way of seeing your body – and yourself.

It is quite amazing to realize that our energy and abilities impact our perspective. That is the reason the day seem to stretch at the fag end of the day.  Being hungry/cold/ or simply uncomfortable can impact our choices.  Loneliness can affect our stance as well as  emotions. It would be good to be mindful of all the above.

I had published a short story of two neighbours. It was published in a magazine called New Woman –The tale of two easy chairs. 

Do stop by for it shows it is definitely necessary to clean our windows.

 

This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla.

Image credit: From net on story of the window..perception

Image Credit:  Mathias Reding: https://www.pexels.com/photo/clothes-hanging-beside-a-green-concrete-building-12649649/