Experiencing reality

I experience reality in two ways. The first, and the most common for me at this stage, is a linear mode. When my consciousness perceives reality in this way, people and objects only exist in time…

… I sample and analyze the chaos of events in the external world into a linear sequence; I make meaning through separation, and I use language to express my thinking…

… there is always a past, a present and a future…

… and when my perception functions in this mode, I know that the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex is in charge…

In this mode, I sample and understand reality as in the time-line below:

Cloud cover on October 17, morning, afternoon and evening, over the Gulf of Mexico area. Bright dot represents Houston. Snapshots are from “LivingEarth”. ©EarthRelated

There is an expectation that events should occur in a linear, logical succession, “perfectly” ordered in time, with a beginning and an end.

I need this mode of experience to function in the world I am at present: I work, therefore I need to get to the office on time, I need to be at meetings on time, I need to finish projects on time. I have a family, and the significant people in my life depend on me to show up and do things in a time-bound fashion. Or do they?

The other mode I experience reality is non-linear…

… events are intertwined, each reciprocally influencing the other, and the perception is comprehensive and complete…

… the world is a “patterned whole”, where events occur simultaneously, in a timeless space, with no future or past, with no cause and effect, with no words needed for expression…

A Patterned Whole

Experience and perception as a non-linear, patterned whole, where events are intertwined and timeless. ©EarthRelated.

… and when my perception functions in this mode, I know that the right hemisphere of the cerebral cortex is in charge…

Are these two modes exclusive of one another? Is there a middle of the road, or should be one? Would I be able to function in my present life using the “patterned whole” mode of experience?