I wish I was real

 Mr Potato Head has reason to complain. He is a plastic copy of the Toy Story version, which is itself a copy of the original - the ‘real’ potato-based Mr Potato Head.

We often have the feeling that things are ‘not real’, that we are in a film for example. Only occasionally are we conscious of being conscious. Can we be conscious of being conscious of being conscious? How far does this hall of mirrors have to recede before we know we are real? Language has an important part to play in this bizarre process and mindfulness is a way of being aware of it.

On the other hand, perhaps we are more real when we forget this nonsense and experience reality directly, not filtered by language. This might happen dramatically in a trauma or a moment of ecstasy but it is not sustainable for long (we would not be able to function as human beings if it was).

We all live in a fantasy world. It is not possible to plug ourselves into the real world directly without the filters of our senses, our minds, our language, our prejudices, our education or our religious and cultural backgrounds.

As it becomes more possible to have experiences through the virtual world (which by definition is not real) the boundaries between virtual and real have become blurred.

Perhaps none of us is real.