the inside and the outside

I talked to Erin at her little party last night.
Erin is a painter with very lovely hands. When she spoke, she painted the air around us with her fingertips. It was like watching a work in progress, very fascinating!
This is what she said, paraphrased, as I remember (it was late...)

You know, sometimes its good to remember with all the stuff that goes on here, [imagine long thin fingertips swirling around the temple/forehead area] that real life happens out here. [imagine now, same fingertips swirling the air around and in front of her, my neighbor, and myself]

We talked about how, while being in a serious muddle, we see our friends, or snow, or a cat tucked into the recycling box and it (whatever your it may be) really doesn't seem so bad.

My quandary here is that yoga philosophy says that "reality" does happen in our heads. The world is an illusion. An illusion that is put there to teach us something, but still an illusion. And everything out there is colored by what is in here.
Maybe its a give and take? Our thinking paints the illusion brighter or darker, and that illusion does the same to our paint?

good stuff to ponder...but outside pondering or in??! Oy!

This is Erin's painting up above. Click on it to see more!