I'm very keen on photography these days and I enjoy taking out my new toy (fairly posh new camera) and snapping away. 

I've progressed to some of the smarter things it can do, and I particularly enjoy experimenting with the colour filters. This sets the camera so that it will only pick up certain colours and the rest is black and white. You can get some really effective shots, say, if you just set it to yellow tones, and I've had some amazing shots in this way.  

This leads me to think what filters we use in every day life. Bearing in mind that there is no colour 'out there' (whatever that is), and that light itself has no colour, and that what we perceive as colour is actually the action of electromagnetic waves on specialised cells in the human retina, we have to conclude that we ourselves provide the colour and the interpretation. This is deep stuff and I won't go into it further, but I think you get the picture!  

Like the time I was in my kitchen on a hunt for the salt cellar, and I finally saw it on the top shelf in the cupboard. As I reached up to take it, it literally dissolved in front of my eyes and became a pot of garlic salt. This was an amazing insight into my brain in action!  

 

In a nutshell, we tend to see what you are looking for. So, to paraphrase the old saying 'be careful what you wish for,' it pays to take care what we seek. What do you think?