by Patricia Storm

What is reality? According to Jean Houston – scholar, philosopher, and researcher in the field of human capability – we have actually developed four different levels of reality that we roll together in our mind and act on as though the resulting construct is “real”.

Houston presented this concept in the early ‘90s as part of her Mystery School program. Cynthea Jones and I have been developing and working with this model ever since we participated in that Mystery School. We have found that recognition of four levels that can be separated and distinctly identified opens up the possibility of changing “reality” in a new and provocative way.

The four levels of reality are: physical reality, psychological reality, mythic reality and essential reality. Sounds like a sneaky dance with words, doesn't it? Well, yes and no. In our thinking-focused, sophisticated, modern world, we dance this dance of words, meaning and understanding with every interaction. We observe nuances of tone and body language and make determinations about what it is someone “really means”, no matter what words we hear. We dance with reality on different levels. Knowing this is a powerful tool. We can use this tool to understand ourselves better, to communicate more clearly with those who are important to us, and to clarify the communication we receive from others.

The first step is to identify and recognize the four levels of reality and how they are impacting our interactions. Let's work with an example. Think of an interaction in your life that you wish had been different. Describe that situation in as much detail as you like.

Ginger walked in late to a meeting at work. The room was full of silent people who were unsmiling and sitting very still. Ginger felt nervous about being late, and became more anxious as the silence continued. Someone finally suggested that the meeting be reconvened the following day. Ginger left work feeling that she should probably look for another job and that she was a failure.

The first level – physical reality, is the one we often slide by too quickly, as we rapidly move on to another, more interesting level. Physical reality is what happened. Just the facts, please – the bare bones of the interaction. “Who, what and where” are the questions we seek to answer at this level. To really stay at the level of physical reality, it is important to avoid jumping to the “why”, or creating any stories about the event. Try it. It's difficult to describe an event without also ascribing meaning, isn’t it?

What are the bare facts of your situation? Describe “who, what and where”, and leave out your feelings or beliefs about them.

Ginger was late for the scheduled meeting. Her co-workers were silent, unsmiling, and still. This description of the physical reality of the situation may bring up lots of ideas about “why”, but it’s important to remember that, at this level, we have no real information about meaning.

The second level of reality – psychological reality – is where we use our well-developed skills of discernment to decide what our physical observations mean. It is often very difficult to separate these two – the physical and the psychological. We are actually taught to work with them together. If we see someone with no smile who is being very still, we should recognize that they are sad, or mad, or that something is going on. And so we do. We use whatever experience or knowledge we have to “understand” the meaning of the behavior we are seeing. We will ascribe meaning even when we are unsure, rather than experience the discomfort of failing to “understand”.

How did you feel about the interaction you’re remembering? What beliefs did it invoke in you? How did you decipher the physical reality you experienced, turning it into psychological reality?

Ginger felt nervous and believed that the silence, smile-less-ness and stillness of her co-workers was about her and her lateness.

The third level of reality is the mythic level. This is where we tell the story of the event or interaction, and how it relates to the rest of our life. This level of reality is often distinguished by the use of words like “always” and “never.” In creating mythic reality, we dive into our personal history and find things that remind us of our current situation. We weave our past into a greater story about why this is happening to us now.

In working with the interaction in question, can you find the story you tell about similar situations in your life? What historical events did this moment remind you of?

Ginger remembered being berated by her father for being irresponsible every time she was late. She also felt responsible for her mother's sadness, and didn't know until she was an adult that her mother suffered from untreated depression. Lateness and sadness are wrapped up in a mythic story about who Ginger is or was in relationship to her parents.

The fourth level is that of essential reality. We weave the other three levels around this essence to paint our picture of an event. What is the belief that we are using as a foundation for our choices in this interaction, even when we don't know that we are making a choice? Finding these beliefs can be most challenging. We often describe these beliefs as “the truth.” They may involve concepts of worth, values, cultural norms and expectations.