Perception
We’re often told that we should be objective, put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, try to understand their story and their point of view. It is important as a human being to be able to channel that objectivity to be empathetic towards others.But what does make us ourselves? Because the way we perceive ourselves, the idea others have of us, and who we really are are different. Different but complementary. It’s the combination of all of them which makes us who we are, how we act, react, and behave. Someone who went through cancer or abuse can see themselves as somehow broken, lacking something or scared, when people around them could see them as survivors, admire them for their courage, etc… To fully understand a person you can’t leave out one of these perceptions, all are essential, all of them are their truth and what makes them unique. Why? Because if you take only one and leave the other on the side, you only have a half truth. When writing we have to create multidimensional characters in order for them to be relatable to the reader. So let me explain that differently. For example, I have two dogs at home. Luna is a thirty kilos American Staffy and Lola is a seven kilos spoodle.
People are scared of Luna because she’s big, strong, and really impressive with her square face. Add to that the stigma around the bulls breed and see how people often cross the street to avoid having to walk near her. For most of them she's a blood thirsty beast. People who know her, see how gentle and loving she is. She wouldn't hurt anyone nor anything, not intentionally, even if she can be brutal sometimes and crushes you a little bit, and when she does she's mortified and doesn't know what to do be forgiven. Her 'deadly' jaws will never scratch you, even if you take a bone away from her. Why? Because of who she really is. Which leads to how she perceives herself. Luna thinks she’s a tiny tiny little puppy, she loves it when we call her that - yes dogs and cats understand words. That’s the way she sees herself, and she acts accordingly. She runs into door frames and furniture because she really thinks she’s small and her interaction with space shows it. If she's threatened or attacked by another dog, usually way smaller than her, she just hides or submits, but never defends herself. She's clingy, loves cuddles and has separation anxiety.Now let’s talk about Lola, who’s the cutest looking spoodle. She looks like a teddy bear and people are drowned to her. First because she’s an attention seeker, and second because they think she’s harmless. Well she’s not. I would never let a child approach her, because I can’t trust her. She can be aggressive sometimes. We don't try to grab something from her because we could lose a hand or at least few fingers. She growls and bites Luna without any reason. Lola also sees herself as a tall dog. She stretches to show off how long are her legs, and nothing can make her happier than when we tell her that her legs are long, then she proudly stretches them more. That’s the way she sees herself.She doesn't cuddle us per se, we have to pat her exactly where and when she wants and she's quite bossy about it. If she’s been naughty, she doesn’t care about us telling her she’s been a bad girl, no what really hurts her is when we tell her she’s not beautiful. Go figure!Now if you had to judge my writing on this article. You'd say that my English is not that good, that I use 'she' instead of 'it' when it comes to animals, so why the hell do I write? Well, English is my second language, so yes sometimes I make mistakes. But it is consciously that I use 'she' or 'he' for an animal. In French, everything has a gender. Although I can understand and use 'it' in English for objects because they're inanimate, it's something I refuse to do for animals because they are living beings, have a soul and emotions. You see, everything is subjective.Well it’s the same with human beings and characters in general. They are an interesting mix of how they're perceived, how they see themselves, and who they are. As a writer we have to objectively show their subjectivity.Happy writing everyone.V.P Colombo
People are scared of Luna because she’s big, strong, and really impressive with her square face. Add to that the stigma around the bulls breed and see how people often cross the street to avoid having to walk near her. For most of them she's a blood thirsty beast. People who know her, see how gentle and loving she is. She wouldn't hurt anyone nor anything, not intentionally, even if she can be brutal sometimes and crushes you a little bit, and when she does she's mortified and doesn't know what to do be forgiven. Her 'deadly' jaws will never scratch you, even if you take a bone away from her. Why? Because of who she really is. Which leads to how she perceives herself. Luna thinks she’s a tiny tiny little puppy, she loves it when we call her that - yes dogs and cats understand words. That’s the way she sees herself, and she acts accordingly. She runs into door frames and furniture because she really thinks she’s small and her interaction with space shows it. If she's threatened or attacked by another dog, usually way smaller than her, she just hides or submits, but never defends herself. She's clingy, loves cuddles and has separation anxiety.Now let’s talk about Lola, who’s the cutest looking spoodle. She looks like a teddy bear and people are drowned to her. First because she’s an attention seeker, and second because they think she’s harmless. Well she’s not. I would never let a child approach her, because I can’t trust her. She can be aggressive sometimes. We don't try to grab something from her because we could lose a hand or at least few fingers. She growls and bites Luna without any reason. Lola also sees herself as a tall dog. She stretches to show off how long are her legs, and nothing can make her happier than when we tell her that her legs are long, then she proudly stretches them more. That’s the way she sees herself.She doesn't cuddle us per se, we have to pat her exactly where and when she wants and she's quite bossy about it. If she’s been naughty, she doesn’t care about us telling her she’s been a bad girl, no what really hurts her is when we tell her she’s not beautiful. Go figure!Now if you had to judge my writing on this article. You'd say that my English is not that good, that I use 'she' instead of 'it' when it comes to animals, so why the hell do I write? Well, English is my second language, so yes sometimes I make mistakes. But it is consciously that I use 'she' or 'he' for an animal. In French, everything has a gender. Although I can understand and use 'it' in English for objects because they're inanimate, it's something I refuse to do for animals because they are living beings, have a soul and emotions. You see, everything is subjective.Well it’s the same with human beings and characters in general. They are an interesting mix of how they're perceived, how they see themselves, and who they are. As a writer we have to objectively show their subjectivity.Happy writing everyone.V.P Colombo
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