There’s a strange truth about the world: not everything is real until you notice it.

Think about sound. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Technically, it creates vibrations, but without an ear—or something to interpret those vibrations—there is no “sound” as we understand it. Perception gives it meaning.

The same goes for opportunity, beauty, and even time. Opportunity doesn’t always knock loudly. Sometimes it’s subtle, disguised as inconvenience or discomfort. If you’re not tuned into it—if you don’t see it—it might as well not exist.

Beauty is subjective. What moves one person might not catch another’s attention. A sunset, a painting, a quiet moment—they’re not inherently beautiful. They become beautiful because you perceive them that way.

Time, too, is slippery. An hour in traffic drags. An hour with someone you love flies by. Objectively, time hasn’t changed—but your experience of it has. Without your perception, time loses its shape.

This idea—that perception shapes existence—can be unsettling, but it’s also empowering. It means you can choose how to see the world. You can choose to see possibility instead of limitation, growth instead of failure, presence instead of absence.

Your mind isn’t just a mirror of the world—it’s a filter. You get to decide what you see, and in doing so, you decide what exists for you.

So if something feels missing, maybe it’s not that it isn’t there. Maybe you just haven’t looked at it the right way yet.