Study on a ring

That’s the deceptive beauty of perception. I don’t actually see the world as it is—I see the version my brain builds for me, stitching together fragments of light, shadow, and memory. I fill in gaps without realizing it, assuming depth where there’s only flatness, permanence where there’s only illusion.

This ring reminds me how much I trust appearances, even when I know they’re unreliable. A trick of the light, a soft blur, a carefully placed highlight—and suddenly, I believe in gold. It makes me wonder: how many things in my life have I mistaken for solid, when they were only fleeting reflections?