Flavour 1: Perception

We spend virtually all our days, and most of our sleeping time, completely unaware of most of what is going on around us.

This is not a bad thing, it's just the way things are and how we've evolved. Different animals notice things differently from us.

For example, dogs 'see' the world as a scent map; bats and whales as a series of sound echoes.

In our modern world, more than ever, we are swamped with information. Some days you might feel completely overloaded and overwhelmed with it all.

There is no time to catch a breath or to notice anything. It would be easy to conclude that our lives are a trickle of chance encounters in an ocean of missed opportunity.

How do you get off the merry-go-round and pause for breath?

The key lies in seeing the world as a set of metaphors as opposed to a given.

Fortunately we are equipped with a brain which is a fabulous pattern recognition system. It can pick out our name, or favourite football team or soap star, being spoken from the background hubbub of a party.

The devil is in the perception of the detail.

Floughts

Perception separates the lucky from the unlucky.

Your luck is entirely dependent on noticing just the right things at just the right time.

Blink and you may miss it.

Think the wrong thoughts and you will block it.

Remember to say "thank you" when it happens and you will encourage it.

Perception means noticing but not acting.

So today, just spend time observing and making note.

Write down three good things that happen and three not so good things that happen.

Pay attention to coincidences and people or events that kind of happen at random ...

... these are the ones that are important.

Perception is concerned with patterns.

Our brains are holographic pattern recognition detectors.

If you detect three instances of something, it is time to take notice and act.

If three people say read a book, buy it. If three people say you must meet so-and-so, go meet them.

The trinity is the key here and asks for completion.

Perception is the initiator of change.

It is a High Day indeed when you wake up and spot something new or that something is different.

The coming day does not now have to be the same as the last.

The 'old you' has carried you well this far but now it is time for the 'new you' to shine. Perception means noticing but not acting.

Anti-floughts

Beware of falling into the trap that the cards you have been dealt in life are all you have to play with. This is an illusion.

Don't be a busy fool; you will keep yourself from spotting the opportunities that abound.

Watch for the excuses for not following or realising your dreams.

How do you perceive?

What does perception mean to you?

When did you last perceive something new about yourself?

Write down three new things you perceive today.

Write down three things you would like to perceive tomorrow. •

Renaissance Man and Imagineer Tom Evans is the author of four books and counting about creativity. More »

10/11/11