Illusions

Illusions. They’re everywhere. Everyone we meet, everything we see – they all cast them. Its hard sometimes to discern what is real and what is not – depending on how good the illusions are, and more importantly how good you are at finding them.

I cast them every day; several times a day in several different ways. We all do. Its in our nature. People who know me pretty well will see through some. People that know me very well will see through most. But no one will see through all. I don’t do it to hide who I am (those people are the ones you need to worry about) – I do it to project whatever aspect of myself is best suited to any given situation. Well, ok, there are times I do it to hide, but that’s a tale for another day.

There are those few that use illusions to make you believe that what you see is real, when in fact they are anything but what you see. And there are those that cast them to make themselves believe that what they show is real. These are the hardest illusions to see through, for if the projector believes what they say, their lie is hard to detect.

I was in a situation not too long ago where I watched as the illusions that surrounded another person fell to pieces. Right in front of my eyes. It reminded me of an episode of How I Met Your Mother. Each time someone’s annoying habit was pointed out, the sound of glass shattered above the heads of everyone else in the room. They had not noticed these traits in each other before, but once pointed out, they were obvious to all. I felt the exact same way that day.

And then there you are, staring at what you always considered to be real when *poof* - it’s gone. And once they are all gone, once every illusion is shattered, there is the face unveiled. And all you can do at that point is hope that what you reveal is not ugly.