Verisi
Verisi is not an actual word, but it is my shorthand that stands for the purpose behind my writings. Verisi comes from verisimilitude whose definition is “the appearance of being true or real” or can also stand as “similarity to the truth.” I find this appropriate on a few levels, which I will explain shortly. But also, Verisi is appropriate regarding my beliefs about truth, reality, and how I approach life.
A fundamental truth underlies the world and existence; yet, our life is driven from both internal perceptions and perceptions projected onto us by others, not objective truth. How we live, how we move through life arises out of these perceptions.
We all know that person who can take a seemingly innocuous moment, statement, or response and magnify it into something demanding attention because of a felt harm. That is because of perception. We also know those who are in an unsupportive relationship, who may have a job that overworks and undermines them as a person, or are in any number of negative scenarios, yet they are okay with it. That is also because of perception.
A perception is not the truth. It may be an approximation of the truth, but we perceive things in ways based on our personal history, our present mental and emotional states, and our beliefs about how life is and how life should be. These perceptions shade and color reality as we view it. Many times, these perceptions limit us, but they also have the miraculous ability of endless empowerment, should we choose that interpretation without deceiving ourselves. As someone who is concerned with living as impactful and fulfilling life as possible, my goal is to limit my limits and my miscolorations. Through this, the goal is to approach life with as enabling a perspective as possible, this perspective being my approximation of what is true.
All around us are invitations to challenge, deepen, and grow the conversations we have. Externally, the people we choose to share life with, society, even nature itself can provide invitations to a greater depth of living. Within us—our vision for our own future, how we read our past, and our perceptions of present moments—we are continually invited to deepen the conversation. These conversations may be with another or may occur within ourselves and manifest in how we show up in the world. An important step in understanding and shaping our perceptions is to be cognizant of the language we think in, the language we speak to ourselves with, and the language we use to converse with others. Thus, in the writings to come, I explore language, its meaning and its function, through the written word. Writing allows me to think better, which allows me to live better. These are my contemplations on language, and thus the world I inhabit and the life I presently live, and hope to live.
The writings to follow are a continual exploration and evolution, which means they may be revised at any point as a deeper understanding comes to me. These are my attempts to get at the core nature of what is true, to what David Whyte, a great inspiration of mine, refers to as “the conversational nature of reality”. Through pondering language and meaning, I am able to alter how I perceive the world and accept the invitations all around me to lead the life I want to live.
These are my Verisi.