This is a collection of ideas that I believe can be interweaved to create one, large essay.
I had planned to write this draft, but I fear my plans were led astray.
How, precisely, exactly, do actions shape our reality? And ourselves? Think it out...
The mind assigns meaning to whatever befalls us. This assignation of meaning is named an assessment. The reason behind it is that our brains constantly attempt to make sense of the external world using the body. This is to assess for safety and well-being.
How does the brain make sense of the world?
One assigns meaning to objects according to one's values, subsequently informing one's actions.
Oftentimes, assessments may be painful. The mind may see an external object or event as a threat to well-being, whatever the reason behind such is. Thus, we are pained not by an external thing but our own assessment of it.
To alleviate the pain, we must first check our assessment's validity. Is it accurate to the situation? If so, then I advise seeking a helpful perspective or element of the situation. If not, bend the assessment toward accuracy. Once accurate, you may do that other step.
If accuracy is inaccessible (e.g. a memory of an event) then seek a helpful perspective or element of the situation.
If the assessment itself is inaccessible, then the important thing is what to do about it. Sit with it, ignore it, etc.
How to change one's perspective?
One's attention holds only onto specific aspects of an experience. What attention focuses on depends on one's physical, mental and emotional states, as well as the context in which one is experiencing and past experiences.
One's attention reflects one's mind structure. Perhaps.
The reason behind this phenomenon is to ease the brain from using too much energy.
Refer to The Brain's Resistance to Chores + Seven Methods to Counter It.
There are two types of attention: auto-focus and intentional focus. The former is the brain's ability to focus on certain aspects of an experience without using too much effort. This is the default mode for attention. Intentional focus, on the other hand, is the mind's ability to control what to focus on in an experience. As one would guess, this type of attention requires some amount of effort.
One's perception of the world largely comes from experiences. One only pays attention to certain elements (as opposed to all elements) of an experience. This means that what we focus on shapes our perception of the world. The great thing about this is that we have plenty of control over it.
To control what to pay attention to:
By controlling what to focus on, one sees more of what they seeks and less of what they are not seeking.
Although one can toggle his attention, one cannot toggle the thoughts that arise. If an unwanted thought arises, it is of one's choice to engage with it or not, regardless of what that thought is. The thought may still continue to speak, but it will eventually learn to quiet down. (People with mental complexities—OCD, anxiety and depression, to name a few—may have difficulties with toggling their attention, let alone unwanted thoughts.) Controlling what to focus on, especially with thoughts, is a skill, so it does require practice to become efficient at it.
The part of this draft below was initially a separate one, but I decided to merge it because the ideas are very similar.
In a moment of pleasure, one may look at the pleasant elements of the moment; likewise in painful moments with painful elements. However, the moments themselves are neither pleasant nor painful: it is the details one chooses to watch that enables his thoughts and emotions. Understanding this, one can seek the benefit in any given moment—"look at the bright side", as people say—even if said benefit is not immediate.
This is not to neglect the emotions certain moments evoke; the horror after a traumatic event is often worse in suppression. The search of benefit ought to be done with a clear mind.
How to seek the benefit of the now:
The brain is constantly predicting what will occur next so it can act accordingly. This is to ensure safety (or the sense of it, at least) to itself as well as conserve energy on tasks deemed unnecessary.
Refer to The Brain's Resistance to Chores + Seven Methods to Counter It.
One acts according to what one expects.[1] Though such prediction could be beneficial, it could also be just as unhelpful—if you want to build a tent but think it is going to collapse, you will not build it regardless of its chance of collapse. If what you want does not align with what you expect, the desire will not be achieved.
To get what you want:
[1] de Lange, F. P., Rahnev, D. A., Donner, T.H., Lau, Hakwan (2013). Prestimulus Oscillatory Activity over Motor Cortex Reflects Perceptual Expectations. The Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 33, Issue 4. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1094-12.2013
We all exist in one world, but we all live in different realities. A person with their brain, body, upbringing, relations, values and environment fundamentally experiences the world differently from another individual.
This is what makes political discourse so divided...look into it.
Everything that we experience echoes with us, as we are forever in their shadows. Some shadows are stronger than others, of course.
In spite of that, we connect by sharing experiences: experiences that some people are more familiar to than other. Someone raised in Manchester is more likely to have similar experiences with another person who was raised there instead of someone raised in Glasgow.
Research: how do shared experiences help us? Or, how does sharing experiences help people?
Often, we do not choose our reality, but it is thrust upon us by society. Black people in the United States did not choose to have an ongoing history of systemic prejudice, but this is the reality they live in.
Things by themselves do not have meaning; it is humans that give them so.
We can shape our reality with our thoughts, actions and attention.
Further reading: Your Perception is Your Reality (Lifehack).
How is perspective built? First, there is the genetic predisposition from one's familial background. As an infant, one's experiences are majorly influenced by that, as well as the surrounding environment and one's caretaker. Continuing with the brain's development, there will have been enough experiences for perspective to form. This most notably occurs in early childhood. From there, perspective becomes one factor that influences how one experiences the world alongside the brain's development. Next, the ability to consciously focus on specific aspects of a context will have properly developed. Thoughts emerge from perspective, and they play a role in shaping it.
Attention shapes perspective by highlighting elements of an experience according to past experiences. Thoughts shape perspective by projecting judgment according to past knowledge. Actions shape perspective by providing/influencing experience.
Past Experiences [ One ] Attention ←(experience)— World
Attention → Perspective → Thoughts, Emotions, Actions
Since we can shape our perspective, provide examples of them. Artistic, dark, innocent, etc.
One → Perspective → Reality → World
One has a perspective, which shapes his reality. Reality is a reimagined version of the world, never the whole of it. We can get our reality to be close to the world, or at least what we think of it, but the two will never exactly match.
How to change your perspective:
Seek other, more direct ways on how to change one's perspective.
What is the difference between knowledge and experience? And, how do infants experience the world?
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." —William Shakespeare
Perception: the act of receiving stimuli.
Perspective: one's point of view of the world, ignoring some aspects of reality and emphasising others.
Judgment: man-made tools for action, often used to achieve human harmony or satisfaction, that of which is defined according to human terms.
Experience: an event distinguished by one being present with it.
Perception yields judgment. When one perceives anything, physical or otherwise, one often bestows judgment upon the perceived object. This is meant to be an act of understanding built upon past experiences. Thus, objective reality is imperceivable, for that perception is tinted by perspective, and perspective is tinted by judgment, and judgment is tinted by one's experience of life.*
How do judgments form? And, how does one's perspective of reality develop?
Judgment occurs within a context: the same object may be perceived differently in a different context.
Truly, there is nothing either good or bad. Those are only human judgments—labels—used for human purposes. Example: murder is judged as bad because it causes unnecessary emotional turmoil in one part of society, among other consequences. The label "bad" serves as discouragement from doing the act. At the core of everything, all is neutral, regardless of effect on humans. It is only when we begin to perceive that judgment arises.
Judgment affects not the object but its perceiver: it is a declaration of how one perceives the object and an implication of how one will behave according to such.
Projecting judgment is a conscious choice.
^ How often is this the case?
We can control our perspective of a situation. The situation doesn't have to be as tragic as you see it—in fact, it probably isn't so. Unpleasant experiences can teach you endurance: that is their bright side. Furthermore, one could sustain their judgment.
Note: some experiences come with strong emotions, like trauma. Those are exceptions due to their depth.
*How one experiences the world lies in perception, which lies in perspective, which lies in judgment, which lies in experience. We have control over our perspective and judgment, among other things.
Underreality: one's own experience of thoughts. It is one pillar of our perception of the world and subsequently our experience of it. Underreality is an ongoing process, created and destroyed with each passing moment. It is the brain's attempt of reasoning with the present and past.
Each person has their own underreality, but common experiences may be possible. Still, we all are bound to our own experiences.
Schizophrenia is an extreme form of underreality, in that the person experiences their thoughts as reality, as sensations. Sensations are any input outside the mind; thoughts are the brain's attempt to make sense of them. We can produce thoughts without needing help from the external environment (i.e. outside the mind).
There are two types of underrealistic experiences: intentional (e.g. imagination) and unintentional (e.g. intrusive thoughts).
Regardless of the type of experiences, it is within one' control to decide what to do with them and compose one's underreality. (People with mental conditions like OCD may have difficulties with this.)