by Barbara Akowuah

Created on: July 09, 2008

Some people may perceive a work of art as trash and some people may perceive that same piece of art as magnificently beautiful, the most beautiful thing they have ever seen, it's all a matter of perception. But whose perception matters most?, mine or yours?

I may perceive one thing a certain way while you may perceive that same thing differently. There is a young girl who is dealing with the problems of perception. She perceives her looks as being flawed, she feels that physically there is a problem, a deformity with a particular feature, her lips.

The young girl has allowed this perceived flaw to dictate her actions in every day situations particularly in social settings which in her case would prove to be most difficult. For example she is hesitant to look at people because she is afraid of what their reaction will be, at times she will also avoid eye contact or give too much eye contact in the hopes of distracting attention away from her lips.

What is difficult for her is not necessarily her lips but it's the idea of the perception of her lips. Everyone states that, everyone who is important to her (i.e. family and friends) tells her that her lips are fine even going as far as to say that her lips are her best asset. There are moments when she believes this and there are moments when she doesn't.

However, despite all of this she knows that she must be a successful Journalist and she knows she has what it takes, so this brings us to the question, why is perception so important to us or rather this girl?

Well, lets examine this case, the same girl the aspiring journalist participated in a debate and during the debate the room began to swell so much it quickly became overcrowded.

The room was full of important people as well as many young people whose realties tend to be based upon their perceptions.

During the debate the girl who is always self-conscious remained relatively calm and in fact was looking forward to the sequence of events. She sat in the front of the room in order to reassure her friend, the moderator of the debate, that she was willing to lend her support.

She looked around the room as she usually does in order to ID people based on their reaction to her perceived flaw. She saw a couple of people doing what she refers to as "biting of the lips" to her this is the greatest offense due to her heightened sensitivity.

However, she begins to think about her future, the fact that she wants to become a journalist and make her daddy proud. So she proceeds

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>