eemed so mysterious until now. Each of us just takes in reality for what it is. It is amazing to think that we can actually create and shape our own reality. You won’t make the world triangle or the sky purple, but you can decide if your reality is filled with joy or misery. We should all be nonconformists and make the world the way we want it to be. If your teacher says that college is hard and just the beginning of a very rocky road, turn to her and say, “In my reality, college is fun and just the beginning of a wonderful life filled with happiness! I will not let your words shape my reality!” Will she dare argue with you? Kids are great, aren’t they? They can spend hours playing with a spoon and a bowl. They have a profound and admirable sense of innocence. A child sees things in a completely different way than adults do. Adults see a woman in a flashy dress with extravagant jewelry, and they think to themselves “What a hussy!” A child can see the exact same lady and merely think “Pretty lady.” Are adults just pessimistic, self-absorbed morons with nothing better to do than criticize? I hope not, because that is not what I want to be. I think that the reason is culture and language. A child may live in the same culture as the critical adult, but it is apparent that there is a difference in thought. Perhaps, it is television or personal experience. The big difference is that children speak a different language than adults. The words may sound the same, but the meanings that lie underneath are distinct. This brings me to my conclusion that there are just as many realities as there are languages. Language influences our thoughts and understanding. The realities that we all know are the product of our surroundings and particularly the things that we are told. What is all this talk about reality and language? How can we question and analyze reality? Reality is just ...
