Reality – What Is It?

What is reality? “Real” is Latin based and has the same root as “Royal”. In the old days, reality was what the ruler said it was, whether it was a king, a pharaoh or emperor. That ruler today might be a parent, partner or boss. The ruler is what we measure ourselves by. If we don’t measure up, we’re not facing reality. We’re outside the realm of reality. We’re in the darkness that’s outside what somebody else says is the status quo. People who disagree with the ruling body, whether it’s a king, pharaoh, emperor, president, or boss are outside reality. And if you’re outside reality, where are you? Insane. How many people have been declared insane and institutionalized because they didn’t agree with the status quo?

One example is Senator Joseph McCarthy and his Communist witch hunt. But, for a time, his views matched the status quo. He was on the side of “reality”, following a political agenda. When that agenda ceased to be popular—and when Senator McCarthy stepped over an invisible line—he was outside of reality, and declared insane. Over the centuries, how many dissidents have ended up in asylums or gulags? Were they crazy or were they outside the parameters of the “royal” comfort zone? Outside reality? At one time, free-thinking women were thought to be crazy.

Now consider the word “fantasy”. Its root is Indo-European, and basically means “brought into the light.” Something existed “out there”, wherever “there” is. It was outside the realm of reality—or whatever the ruler declared as reality. Somebody brought it into the light, but it was still outside the acceptance range of the ruling body. It couldn’t be reality; it had to be something else. So fantasy became make believe. Not real. And if you believe in fantasy, you’re insane. The ruling body can’t measure it and hasn’t experienced it. To the ruling body, fantasy is unreal. That doesn’t make it less real to the people who have experienced it.

Reality differs from person to person; from time period to time period. What was real in Joseph McCarthy’s day isn’t the same today. To those people who say that reality can be measured, I ask: “By whom? By what? The ruler?” We believe something is real because we’re told it’s real. And what a shame that is. When we’re two years old, grown ups tell us Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real. Then one day they tell us, “Don’t be childish; everybody knows there’s no such thing as Santa Claus.” And we’re supposed to believe that reality simply because somebody in authority told us it was so.

We can’t live our lives in someone else’s reality. We each have to decide what is real in our own lives. Look at Harry Potter. His uncle tells him there’s no such thing as magic, and then he finds out he’s a wizard! Maybe we’re all wizards and haven’t yet acknowledged that reality.