Believe

Believe:  to accept something as true, genuine, or real. Do you believe in magic? (Did that question just make a song pop into your head? Sorry.) Do you believe in your dreams? Do you believe in God? Do you believe in yourself? In someone else? What does it even mean to "believe in" someone?

One thing I've learned from a work-related training that I find applicable to every area of my life is that "my perception is my reality." In other words, how I see the world is what is "real" to me. So "reality" is different for everyone. Have I lost you? For example, you may say something to me sarcastically, but I perceive it to be insulting, therefore I feel insulted. Your reality is that it was sarcastic and funny. Mine is that it was mean. We all have different perceptions about the world around us, how we experience it using our five senses and judgments made based on previous experiences; those perceptions are what constitute reality for each of us.

While that's an interesting concept, one I could probably ramble on about for pages, it's not really the direction I want to take in my art journal. At least not at first blush. So. Another way of thinking about believe is "to accept something as genuine." A genuine person is sincere and honest; a genuine emotion is sincerely and honestly felt or experienced. What would "sincere and honest" look like on paper? They're feelings. What do feelings look like?

The only way I can think of to go about this is to find something that symbolizes these concepts to me personally - my perception of them if you will - an object, action, person, or event. So many choices! I'll have to give it some more thought. And then there's Wednesday's prompt to incorporate:  tree. Is there anything more genuine or real than a tree? Another good combination of cards, I'm looking forward to a visit from my muse this weekend for sure!