The Jaime David Podcast - Episode 3: Perception

Episode 3 of my podcast is up now.

Check it out on spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Za0nIqA94IHug75C5dsl5?si=a4iAxbh4TdiN1iLEu5F1mQ

Watch it on youtube:

https://youtu.be/ik2_aqOVgEM

check out the transcript for the episode below:

🎙️ The Jaime David Podcast — Episode 3: "Perception"

JAIME DAVID (calm, reflective tone):

Hey everyone—welcome back to The Jaime David Podcast.

I’m your host, Jaime David. And if you’re new here, this podcast is all about exploring the layers behind my writing—sharing poetry, personal reflections, and deeper conversations about the emotions, meanings, and questions that inspire each piece.

Today, I’m revisiting a very short poem. Just two lines. But sometimes, two lines are all you need to hit something real.

The poem is called Perception, and I originally posted it on October 28, 2019—the same day as Instant Gratification, which I covered in the last episode. That was clearly a creative day for me.

Here it is.

JAIME DAVID (reading “Perception”):

It takes just one wordTo change the perception of someone’s world.

JAIME DAVID (reflection/analysis):

I think what I love most about this piece is how much it says with so little.

One word. That’s all it takes. One compliment. One insult. One label. One sentence said the wrong—or right—way. And suddenly, someone’s entire experience, their sense of self, their view of you, or of life, shifts.

It’s wild how fragile perception can be. We think of it as something solid—like a worldview that’s built up over time. But in reality, it can pivot in a second. A single word can open a door… or slam it shut.

There’s a kind of caution embedded in this poem. A reminder to be mindful of our language, because words matter. Words shape things. They’re not just tools for communication—they’re tools for construction, for destruction, for transformation.

 PERSONAL REFLECTION:

I remember writing this and thinking about all the moments in my own life where someone said something to me—whether it was intentional or offhand—and it just stuck.

Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

A teacher telling me I was “a good writer” when I was a kid—that sparked something in me. But I’ve also carried phrases that chipped away at my confidence, even if they were just said once.

And I’ve done the same to others—whether I meant to or not. We all have.

So this poem, in a way, is also about accountability. We all have the power to influence how someone sees the world, how they see themselves. And we can’t always control the impact of our words—but we can try to be intentional about them.

SOCIETAL CONNECTION:

Zooming out, this piece speaks to a larger truth about storytelling, media, identity politics—really, how the world is framed.

Think about how language is used in headlines, in policies, in social movements. One word can frame a group as heroes or threats. One term can humanize—or dehumanize.

Language isn’t neutral. It’s loaded. And perception isn’t passive—it’s shaped by what we hear, what we internalize, what we’re told over and over again.

This poem is a quiet reminder of that.

 OUTRO:

So that’s Perception—a tiny poem with a big ripple effect.

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Jaime David Podcast. You can find this poem and all the others on my blog at jaimedavid.blog. If this episode resonated with you, I’d love if you’d subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a review to help more folks discover the podcast.

In the next episode, I’ll be diving into another early piece—maybe something about memory, or the weight of time. You’ll just have to tune in and see.

Until then—keep musing.