Remember these things?  They’re called hidden image stereograms.  They used to be a thing way back when there was no such thing as “being a thing”.  I used to be mesmerized by these images.   And also frustrated by the ones I couldn’t see.

Can you see the bird in this picture?  It requires a certain relaxation of the mind.  A letting go.  And that’s the thing.  Can you let go?

I’m getting better at it.  What I do now is stare at objects in my own house, objects that have a repetitive pattern.  Like the bottom of our bathmat when it’s hanging out to dry, with its evenly spaced miniature suction cups.  (Ewwww, you can see the mold on it!)  Or the window screen, though that’s a bit trickier.  Then I slowly bring my finger closer to my face, focusing on my finger, yet looking at the pattern in the background.  Until … bang!  I see an image that is closer than it appears.  I tease my brain by weaving my hand in and out of the image.

This is one of those rare moments of being aware of the limits to our so-called reality.  If my brain can be so easily fooled into literally placing an image where there is no object, then what else can it be fooled into believing?

The world is full of magic, fellow dreamers.

DRAGONE out.