Everything I know about reality was taught to me by a schizophrenic. Seriously. The details are a story for another time. Suffice it to say that my early experiences prepared me to see certain things in a different light. Lots of people think "reality" means the same thing as "fact" or "truth". I am of a different opinion. Truth doesn't change and isn't altered by opinion. Facts are also not altered by opinion, though they can change with the discovery of new truth. Reality on the other hand is ENTIRELY based on opinion, is subjective and is, in fact, being written with every word we say and every thought we think.
Reality is simply what two or more people agree to and believe in regards to what they see, hear, feel, taste, touch etc.
Example: If a schizophrenic hears a voice that no one else can; it is by definition, not real... as nobody else lives in that reality with him. I.E. nobody else agrees they heard an invisible albino anaconda whisper poetry from atop the television set.
As we go through our daily lives sometimes we live in a reality nobody else does and we don't even know it. In other words, we can experience un-reality without ever experiencing a psychotic break. Example: In a class I am teaching, I can give a set of instructions for an assignment. 29 kids are paying attention, listen and respond to what I say. 1 kid is distracted when I am speaking. He hears me say something the others do not. When the 30 children turn in the assignment at the end of the period, it is obvious the 1 student experienced a different reality. His assignment is TOTALLY off the mark. If you ask him, he did as instructed. He just happened to be the only one who heard that particular instruction.
So, you see "reality" is so subjective. It has nothing to do with what actually IS. It has everything to do with what we perceive (correctly or not) and how that perception then influences our actions, words, conversations, social interactions etc.
I freely admit to establishing my own reality lots of times. Especially wen it comes to my daughter. And why shouldn't I? Everybody else has their own version of her reality. One PT believes she will not walk without HKFOs. (Braces that go up to her hips). Another PT thinks she may only need little braces that slip into her shoes in order to walk. One doctor believes she is "slow to respond" cognitively. Another thinks she's a bright girl. If I listened to every reality out there about her, my head would be spinning constantly. A long time ago, I realized that I would need to develop my own reality- based on facts I experience, and also on opinions I have formed. That reality is that my little girl is capable. That she is going to surpass expectations. That she is brilliant. These things for me are real and are unlikely to change just because of some random individual whose reality is a little more full of grey clouds than my own. I KNOW who and what my daughter is and she is magnificent, thank you very much.
I want to say a big old sloppy thank you to all the friends and family who choose to actively participate in that reality with me. Its nice to have you here. Please feel free to pet the unicorns and if you borrow the magic carpet, leave a note. I love you all. To everybody else, you are missing out. Plus its gonna suck to be wrong when she walks down to receive that Nobel prize. You might want to consider switching realities now in order to be mentioned in her acceptance speech.
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