Cats, a form of free entertainment.

My sweaters are less Weasley and more Regency. Cropped at the high waistline, extended sleeve length, and I make them out of pretty much every yarn I can get my hands on. I’ve knitted two so far (one with puffed sleeves, one in tweed) and I’m working on a third in a black alpaca blend (for extended versatility). I also altered the pattern from the other two to give this newest variation a cowl neck. I’m eager to see how the finished product turns out.

I did not make the dress on the left (though I have a stash of fabric covered in blue and green owls so I can make a similar frock style). I did make the skirt on the right.

For example: I was born with an extra electrical pathway in my heart but only found out about this recently. The resting tachycardia this condition causes has always been interpreted as anxiety, so my perception of my experience, and the perception that has been nurtured in others, is that I am overly anxious and should calm down. Except anxiety reduction doesn’t always result in a slower heart rate because of the underlying condition causing the racing heart in the first place, so then I get anxious that I can’t stop feeling anxious. It’s a fun self feeding cycle.

Had we known from an early age how my heart was wired, would we have reacted differently to the manifestation of tachycardia? If the perception of anxiety had not been so repeatedly ingrained in me would it have flourished and grown? Or would I have learned to react differently to a simple medical condition, thus changing my perception of myself? Would this altered perception have resulted in a less anxious personality? Was there an equally viable genetic potential for centered confidence that atrophied due to lack of reinforcement?

I can’t go back and change the past, and I don’t mean to dwell in the “what ifs”, but I do think it’s worth considering in so far as it helps to shed light on the power of perception and how much of who we believe ourselves to be is embedded in that perception and linked reaction cycle.

If this is true, then haven’t we just empowered ourselves to make improvements by consciously being aware of and altering our perceptions?

Not to say this is easy. Perception filters can become ingrained habits, and it takes time and commitment to alter ingrained habits, but everything is accomplished in steps and something has to be that first step that starts the motion towards change. If awareness of our perceptions can be that first step, then we are beginning the journey that sheds light on our understanding of how we relate to our world and our self in that world.

Is perception a panacea? Maybe. Maybe not. Perception may not cure cancer, but I think there is something deeply powerful about one’s ability to harness what we absorb from the world and how we react to all the multitude of ways life brushes up against us every day.

Turns out, I’m not the only one in the house that feels that way.

Seriously folks, this video loops for 3 hours, and Widget is just watching away. Occasionally she will trill, and chirp, and try to paw at the fish.

When she can’t actually touch them she turns back and looks at me.

Joe and I just high-fived each other that we finally found a way to entertain the cats that doesn’t require one of us to give them our undivided attention (which we give them plenty of, but sometimes we both want to sit down and write, and the cats do NOT approve).