The Doors of Perception

I am sometimes horrified when I watch the news. I just can't believe my eyes. How is it that night after night, on a government owned channel, a woman who is made up like a cross between Siouxsie Sioux and Alexis Carrington Colby Dexter is allowed to appear on television and do the job looking like that? (I mean no offence to Siouxie Sioux who is a goddess). I often cannot concentrate on what this ET3 newsreader is saying. My mind starts to travel; I start to wonder, what is the make-up artist thinking when putting the finishing touches on her face? Or maybe there is no make-up person and she did it on her own? Well anyway somebody must think she looks just right!(!) Which gets me thinking about perception, and how different things look through the eyes of another.

I could go on for ages about the bad taste on TV. As far as I'm concerned the female newsreaders usually look like they've nipped over for a bit of a break from partying at the bouzoukia, and I really wish the men would wear the right colour foundation and a whole lot less at that; but enough. As I said before, other people don't see a problem. Other people can watch television and actually hear everything that is being said. We all see things so very very differently.

Our seperate perceptions of reality are what make us unique. But we do get caught up in our view of things a bit much. We are so easily convinced that we are 'right' and that our brand of 'right' defines us and we will defend it to the bitter end, no matter if it screws up our relationships or nervous system or even our entire life. There is a fine line between staying true to yourself and being an egomaniac. I think we all walk that line on a daily basis.

If the doors of perception were cleansed,
Everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.
For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern. Said Blake.

A very influential quote this has been indeed. We all have a sense of the infinite when we think about it a bit. It does our heads in. Some of us have even tried to to tackle the concept by looking into science, have given 'A Brief History of Time' a go and made it through X number of pages. But how often do we think of the finite? How often do we consider our own limits; the limits of our ego; the limits of our point of view...

I bet that newsreader lady would think I really need to sort out the dark circles under my eyes. And she would be right.