Perception... we are at its mercy

I've come to believe that we are constantly creating our own world — each of us living in a private reality, occasionally overlapping with others. Some resonate with our version; others reject it. What feels real to one may seem like delusion to another.

Most of us — myself included — spend much of our lives inside our own heads. The mind seems to have a mind of its own. We live on autopilot — what many call the unconscious state. In a class called Shamanic Mind, I learned something that changed the way I see everything: the mind doesn’t just process reality — it creates it.

The future, it seems, may already be set. Everything is waiting for us to walk into it. Intent is the force that transforms potential into form. It’s happening whether we’re aware of it or not. That’s why some people can "see" the future — because intent is always shaping it. Potential is simply what could be — and it waits until intent moves it. Every moment is in motion, regardless of whether we like where it goes. It’s a kind of law — one with the feel of chaos, but an underlying order. A paradox, really.

Life, I’ve come to feel, has its own intent and power. So does death. In the Shamanic Death class, I met what we call the “death advisor.” It’s a ruthless, honest presence. At first, I found it annoying — even maddening. I thought, “Why not have a life advisor instead?” But eventually, I realized something: death and life are like two inseparable siblings, two sides of the same coin.

The death advisor showed me the truth, often in ways that were uncomfortable, even ugly — but deeply necessary. Its harsh message was simple: I wasn’t truly living. And over the years I began to understand that, in many small, unconscious ways, our daily actions, thoughts, and emotions are aligned more with death than with life. We resist life without realizing it — and death waits, always patient, always certain.

I know it might sound dark or even depressing — but I don't share this out of despair. I just want to voice what’s true for me. The education we get from schools and universities trains us to survive — to get a good job, earn money, and assume happiness will follow. But that’s a belief system based on a certain kind of perception — a filtered view of life.

Perception, I’ve realized, is everything. It defines the boundary within which our life experience unfolds. It’s like the canvas on which our personal world is painted. Yet perception is not fixed — it can be shifted. In shamanism, this is called moving the assemblage point — the place within us that determines how we perceive the world. Others might call it a shift in consciousness.

That, to me, is the real meaning of “awakening” — or even the deeper truth behind biblical phrases like “the second coming.” When we free perception, we free ourselves.

Perception and consciousness are partners. The assemblage point — the shamanic term for our inner lens of awareness — illuminates our reality and interprets what we experience. Two people may encounter the same event, but their perceptions shape entirely different realities. Their reactions, responses, and inner stories will never be exactly the same.

Life is relative. No two people are identical. We are One — woven from the same fabric — yet each of us carries a unique expression of that same energy. I believe we’ve always been the same, before time and in time. We travel through this life and beyond, but it all happens within the realm of perceptual awareness.

And the most comforting realization of all? We’ve never been broken. We've never truly been separate from the truth of our being. That thought made me smile.

Happy exploration and be a happy learner.

Thank you, and till next time

Belle