Thursday, August 25, 2011

My Space, My Perspective

My “space” is my “perspective”. The bubble in which I live, walk around, and explore the world represents my space. My perspective– or how I interpret the world around me– links directly to my space because it is the tool-belt with which I experience the world. We are not blank slates walking around, we are not all amnesiacs. I have a past and character encoded onto me by everything and everyone that has “invaded,” walked into, or stumbled into my space. My environment nourishes my perspective by giving me multiple lens’ to see the world through.


One of the first and most important forces to have penetrated my space of mind was my French culture, my other half. Every year of my life has been briefly interrupted, during the summer, to take a trip into another dimension of my soul. France. For every year of my life, I have been sent to the capable hands of my 100 percent pure French grandparents. This capable couple made great strides to have me come not only to love my French-side but also embrace the fact that it takes precedence over half and exactly half of who I am today. Wherever I go, my space carries that half French image, tinting the world that I experience, causing me to perceive the world with both halves.


The other 10-11 months, my space finds itself in Orlando, FL USA. My space–constantly invaded by both my French, scatter-brained, radical mother and my American, stubborn, and conservative father– experienced an almost violent backlash into “modern times.” In my “home,” the crazy clash of cultures and ideologies feels comforting, the modern technology and humidity normal standards I love. France seems to have experienced an experimentation with time freeze. The buildings near where my grandparents live are all medieval. Hundreds of years old and still inhabited. the switch from a bustling, never sleeping, huge modern day city to the silent miles of fields interrupted only by the occasional cluster of 20 houses or the small spit of forest brings about a rude awakening to the other worlds and spaces out there– but also brings about peace and serenity. my previous “space” – home in FL– allowed me to fully appreciate France and perceive it in a way that without something to compare it to would not be nearly as momentous.


How I interpret the world needs a basis, it needs foundation from my prior experiences. Even if I were to start from the beginning, every experience I would have from then on would form the new “space” or foundation for my approach to the world. An example would be when I go into someone else’s house my mind automatically starts comparing it to mine. When I need to find something in someone’s kitchen, I look to where all the things correspond with my kitchen. My space can sometimes blind me because the world is not identical to my space and I have to move past that in order to see the world.

1 comment:

  1. Consider some of the factors that shape your perceptions and return to them throughout the semester. How much of your experience is individual and how much is environment?

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