Perception

[mothwing]

Does your perception change when your mood changes?

I bet it does. Mine certainly does.

This is what a park around the corner normally looks like:


Without glasses:


Tired:

Somehow, I am less short-sighted when I am tired, I don't know why. Also, all coloured less bright.

Nervous:

Little details start to become more important.

Depressed:

Everything is just too bright. Every colour hurts my eyes, and I get annoyed by the stupid trees in our street because they are so bloody green, and when the sun hits the leaves, it's such an ugly colour.
I think it's beautiful when I'm not feeling bad.

I spent about an hour trying to get "happy" and "calm" right and then gave up because it sucked.

I usually get the feeling that there is generally more yellow in what I see, but that doesn't really work for this picture, as it is pretty yellow already. Just take anything and try to create a "sunshine" effect, adding more red and yellow to the picture as a whole.
That's what a happy world looks like for me.

Comments

[fennyfen.livejournal.com]

That's a freaking gorgeous park. o.o

I swear, you live in the prettiest place on the planet. xD

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Pretty nature is certainly readily available where we live, that's true. I adore my daily train ride through the fields and the forests, too. It still sucks that we live in the back of beyond, but it IS pretty as far as landscape is concerned, that's true. :D

[fennyfen.livejournal.com]

I live in an ugly town. Lol. There's nothing pretty here. xDD

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

I bet there is something somewhere. It's bound to be better than Hannover, which is the ugliest town in the world. XD

[count-tygath.livejournal.com]

What a beautiful and important thought, hun... Thx for sharing... :)

I’ve been wondering over very similar things in the last few weeks, actually… Does your perception of things depend on your mood and maybe even vice versa… ?

I noticed I feel the same way… Especially where you say everything’s just too bright when you’re depressed… And it’s far worse even after you cry… Then I can’t stand any shed of light, anyway, it just hurts all over… I have to wait until that feeling seizes until I can go outside or even look outside again…

Little things become more important to me in two ways… In a picture and out in nature it happens when I’m calm and balanced as I even feel more creative then… With people I love it happens, apart from everything else of course, when I worry, and when I’m nervous just as you say… When I worry about someone, I’m always most alert to never miss a thing. I always try to be alert, but when someone needs me the most, I try to never miss that point.

And what I also notice every once in a while, is what happens when I’m not at peace with myself or not balanced altogether or I don’t have the time to just stop for a moment and look at things, take in the details around me… When I’m in a rush. Then it’s like I don’t have a sense of smell…

I do of course, there’s nothing wrong with me or anything, but it’s a feeling as if I don’t smell things consciously… Do I make sense? – When I get better again or do have a peace of mind, then I stop particularly to take everything in that is or that happens around me… Freshly cut grass or how everything smells after it rains… Watch the snails when everything’s damp, wet…

A few weeks ago when I was a little sad I actually went out and I wandered around with my camera, curious where it’d take me… No destination in mind when I set off… Not really, anyway… And I stopped in the Stadtpark to take photos… I’d started out here in beautiful sunny weather and I’d never have expected it to rain in Hamburg that day, as it did on and off… Kept changing all the time, the weather was very indifferent. I didn’t mind. Even though I wasn’t prepared for this, really I did enjoy it immensely… All of it just felt like a cleansing… And after getting home I took a shower and went under my sheets to watch a dvd. That was it… As I said, it just felt clean from the inside and out… The rain, the sky clearing up again after it, some rays of light as the sun came out, and rain again… I didn’t care. It just felt so great…

Sorry I got into a little rant here, but that day was just so beautiful… And this here seems like exactly the right moment to share it with you. :)

*hugs*

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Actually, there are a plethora of paper that discuss the relationship between perception and mood, and I do think that most of them agree that there is some sort of connection. We didn't really cover it during my Psych classes, though, and I never got around to looking up anything more detailed than "there is a connection". :D

Sounds like you should take pictures more often, then, if it's good for you!

Take care.