A word to define a lifetime

When I was growing up I was ravenous for knowledge, and random pieces of information that I came across would be next obsession. Every week I was on a whole new topic, a completely different field of study. While I still retain a large portion of that hunger, to the extent that “Information Sponge” has come to be my de facto self-description, there has been a rather large change in a significant portion of my world view.

When I was about 9, I got stuck into reading the dictionary, I loved learning new ways to describe things that I had previously had to work out with multiple words. Each page turned unlocked summarized knowledge I didn’t know I was missing. Well, one day I found a word that would change my life and mental stability for years to come. I remember looking at that word, realizing I had never fully understood its scope, never realized what it could mean. Now I feel like I’m good at inferring words I’ve never heard when used in a sentence. But of course, with a word like this, one that holds so much between the lines, I had a very limited view of what it entailed.

This word has defined my reaction to the world ever since then, and I’ve done my best to explain what it means to me over the years. But for whatever reason the word doesn’t mean as much to everyone else, it doesn’t seem to capture the same intent outside of my mind. To me, it defines and references an individual’s world view, brings forth the idea of an imperfect mind, shows that the world we see is altered by our ideas and motivations. The world is defined by our perception.

Perception is a simple word that is thrown around in everyday conversation without thought, but it has shaped everything I see about the world. In that word I see the differences that state of mind enforce on your vision, I see the effect of memories and knowledge on normal reactions. Through it I follow every change I make, I watch myself grow daily, watching my “self” get lost in time. The word perception holds so much value to me, it will always remind me of the vast differences between every mind.