Perception

We are made to feel, see, touch, smell, taste, and relate. Our sensation keeps us connected with the reality of the world. Anatomically and physiologically, our sensory organs create the bridge that links our mind with the outside world. Signals travel from the very quantum extremity of our toes to our cerebral cortex. Our mind, then, process the signals into information that form our perception. From the time we are born and experience our first cry, we introduce our emotions to the world. We react to color, temperature, pain, food, gases, and thoughts. My favorite color is blue. But, I remember my kindergarten uniform and the bedroom that I shared with siblings were also blue. I was born in the tropical of the Caribbean in a cold November day. I was told that the winter was atypical that year. It had reached below 30 degree at some point and it was cold until end of March the following year. Today, I live in Miami, Florida, and for as long as I can remember summer time has been my worst enemy. Personally, I believe these two factors have something to do with the way that I am. No one can tell me that I do not look good in my blue jeans and blue shirt or it is not hot outside when I feel like I am burning and sweating in a summer day. If they do not, my sensory neurons are either very hyperactive than most people around me or as a baby, I developed extra ones to cope with the cold. In addition, memories of the blue room I that loved and adapted to, create a perceptual desire in my mind for the color blue. In any case, it makes perfect sense to say that our encounters leave marks that are embedded in our perception. Needless to say that our experiences come in different ways, shapes, and forms, they prepare us for the unknown. More than anything, the elements of our culture have the greatest impact on how we perceive the world. However, with multicultural awareness and consciousness, we can change or transform. On the other hand, as long as we are breathing or alive, our sensation will remain the same in terms of the way messages are conveyed from the outside world to our minds. You will always see as long as you are not blind and hear as long as you are not deaf. And even if one or the other happened after birth or later in life, our perception of what we used to hear and see is immutable.