An Affair with Perception

I don't think we ever stop having a quarter life crisis.

Imagine a time in your life where you felt like everything was perfect.  You were happy in your relationships, 100%. You were happy at work, successful and respected. You were happy with yourself, in love with who you are. If you're between the ages of 21 and 29 I would say these moments are few and far between.

From my experience there is a disconnect in these years. A learning curve. We start taking the people our parents raised us to be and we are given the free will to roam free with it. To discover our lives amidst a string of unrealistic expectations and dreams that seem so far out of reach. Those who see these obstacles as a wall rather than a tunnel are doing themselves a terrible disservice.

You will never get it right,  if you don't do it wrong the first time.

I am 25 years old and at the center of this pie of flirtations. A flirtation with success, with a lucrative career, with the cute boy from the coffee shop, and with the person I wake up and see every morning in the mirror. I used to avoid eye contact with the compilation of intricate and vulnerable ingredients in my life because I was afraid of rejection,  afraid of failing,  and afraid of missing an opportunity.

We are all guilty of it.
When was the last time you saw someone you thought was attractive and walked up to say hello?
We avoid confrontation for fear of disingenuous sentiment or nonchalance. 
When was the last time you opened yourself up and flirted with the idea of taking a risk in your career to make you successful? 
We thrive in the comfort of our own realities to bypass anything associated with failure or becoming an enigma of incompetence. 
When was the last time you looked in the mirror, and saw not only with your eyes but with your mind, the soul and beauty in the person staring back at you?
We pick apart our flaws to mask the feeling of being content in who we are.  Taught by society that we will never be good enough.  We lust after perfection to deflect a state of settlement, leading to the false belief that being wrapped up in ourselves is any sort of imprisonment by our own minds.

We stand slaves to the affair we have everyday with perception.

The most powerful perceptions are a result of the idea that humanity transcends from one idealistic formula. That there is a standard that we as humans are required to meet. A standard so socially reflective that influence alone, rather individuality and uniqueness, is the denominator.

What if, one day, we all just decided that we were going to stop perceiving our lives to be a certain way?
If we stopped being ruled by the dominance of worldly perceptions and cherish our own personal gravity.  What if we stood with our feet planted firmly on the ground and developed our character and personality to integrate in and within each other, rather than conform to those around us?

Imagine how different our affair would be. Imagine how innocent the flirtations would become.  Imagine the true impact we could make on these years so significant to our future.

I am 25 years old, and I am having an affair.

*An affair with my success. 

*An affair with my confidence.

*An affair with myself.