Our Cave

Tonight, I finally, truly understood the Allegory of the Cave, presented by Plato almost 2400 years ago. I was out for a walk, looking up at a full-moon when I realized that I wasn't really seeing the Moon. I was looking at it sure, but I wasn't really seeing it. It was as if the sky had been painted on. It was like a two dimensional, vivid painting that I was staring at. That's when I realized we all just watch the shadows on the wall. We barricade ourselves behind words and symbols and stereotypes. We don't see the world as it is, we see it through our filter of thought and motivation. Our past and our motives color everything we see and hear and sense. If I asked you to look at a car, instantly you would start drawing assumptions about the owner. Are they a fast, irresponsible driver or a self-centered, holier-than-thou driver? We are always making these predictions and assumptions, every second of every day. I'm finally starting to understand that living in the "now" means seeing the world before the filter, or at least understanding how the filter has changed our view of the world.