Perceptions Deceive

 Excerpt from the first novel of the Internal Vanity series. 
"Internal Vanity: Perception, Deception, and The Blackest Truth"

   
 

  Beauty is to goodness is to worthiness is to acceptance is to attraction is to love. From our mates and friends to the communities in which we’d like to live, all that we attempt to acquire is a reflection of our definitions and perceptions of beauty. However, in a world of perception, things aren’t always what they seem; perceptions are full of deception. What if all along you’ve been dancing with the devil playing in a wardrobe you presumed to be that of angels? What if that devil was playing dress up in an attire merely fixed to your perceptions: white wings, “good face”, and a smile? What if he or she is simply a jokester, a prankster, a chameleon, or cross dresser between a vague wardrobe of good and evil preying on your ignorance, conformity, or bigotry? What if good and evil has no distinctive face or attire? What if the devil is you? Would you believe it? Could you conceive it? Would you know the devil if you saw it, him, or her?

What if an angel’s wings aren’t white at all? What if

they were sleek, slick, and black like onyx? What if she was

sleek, slick, and black like onyx ... a black winged angel standing

before you in all her black-skinned beauty. Would you believe

her to be an angel of goodness or would you assume her

to be the angel of death, the grim reaper, the evil one, or the

brunt of bad news in a face and reference unfamiliar, less than

your notion of stellar, less than what you define as beautiful,

good, pure, trustworthy, innocent, honest, and full of love?

What if she were you; what if she were the reflection of you?

Would you believe it? Could you conceive it? Would you

know an angel if you saw it, her, or him?

What if angels have no wings at all? What if your

perceived or achieved fantasies were truly nothing more than

a collection of ugly realities that you believed to be full of

beauty? What if your perceptions were the result of your inability

to see because your mind and eyes were owned by the

devil? What if you found that you are actually attracted to The

Ugly: ugly things, ugly people, ugly beliefs, and an ugly way

of life, but all anointed as beautiful, truth, good, and worthy

by The Beautifully Ugly? And what if you found that every

thing in your life was just a mirror of your own reflection …

your own hideous reflection. Would you believe it? Could you

conceive it? Would you know ugly if you saw it, him, or her?

What if heaven is a brilliant red light amidst a vast dark sky speckled with colorful stars unknown, populated by faces and structures you’ve never seen, sounds you’ve never heard, and a face of God unperceived, misconceived … perhaps the face of a woman … perhaps the face of yourself? What if heaven and the face of God were painted in the blackest of black? Would you believe it? Could you conceive it? Would you know heaven or God if you saw It, Her, or Him?

What if hell is white? What if hell is flame free but cold enough to burn in more ways than one? What if it is an exclusive, infinite, and drafty confined space of white padded walls, white furs, white marble floors, luminous crystals, diamonds, precious stones, glass ceilings, and all the monetary wealth you desire? Would you believe it? Could you conceive it? Would you know hell if you saw it … or even heard or felt it?

What if there is no devil, no hell, or heaven but the

one’s you created … a world that is only as beautiful, angelic,

evil or ugly as your own reflection … a world that is merely

the reflection of your perceptions? Would you believe it?

Could you conceive it? Would you know your own reflection

if you saw it?

What if the notions of dark and light, good and evil,

heaven and hell, angels and demons, beautiful and ugly, masculine

and feminine are merely trained perceptions that have

nothing to do with The Truth? What if you found that your

mind and eyes were owned by deception and everything in

your life was just an ugly truth blurred in a purgatory between

reality and a pipe dream of the good, the bad, and the indifferent

without distinction? What if your hell is my heaven?

What if your heaven is my hell? Perceptions deceive.