Perception is reality

Yesterday we woke up to very cold winter weather. There was a lot of snow on the ground and the temperature on our car thermometer registered -11F/-24C. Believe me it was C-O-L-D.

Today we're back at home, and the sun is shining and my daffodils are about to bloom. The temperature outside this afternoon was 45F/8C.

What a difference a day makes!

I was thinking about gardening and enjoying the sunshine as I walked the dogs this afternoon. My daughters back in Calgary may have been sitting by a fire with a book not daring to venture outside in the frigid temperature. Some number of years from now if you asked us about February 27, 2009 we would have very different stories to tell about the day. Though our stories would be vastly different, neither of us would be wrong. Though our story would be about the same day, the way that we experienced the day would tell a uniquely different tale.

I suspect it may be the same way with personal memoirs. As I have been thinking about work on my own memoir, I have been wondering about how to reconcile the differences between my own perception of various events and those of others that may be different.

The conclusion I draw today is that my perception is my reality and my memoir is the story of my own perception. That is the reality of the story of my life.