Unlikely Collaborators and The Jar Present The Perception Box Adventure, an Immersive Exploration of How We Create Our Reality

Special Boston Event Led by Elizabeth R. Koch Blends Neuroscience, Storytelling, Live Music and Meaningful Conversation to Reveal the Hidden Forces Shaping How We See Ourselves and the World

BOSTON, Oct. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- What if an ordinary object could reveal something extraordinary about you?

On Saturday, November 14, Unlikely Collaborators and Boston-based cultural organization The Jar will present The Perception Box™ Adventure, an immersive evening inviting participants to discover how their beliefs, memories, emotions and personal histories shape the reality they perceive every day.

Taking place from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. at Boston's SoWa Power Station, the evening will be led by Elizabeth R. Koch, founder and CEO of Unlikely Collaborators and creator of the Perception Box™ framework.Tickets to the event sold out shortly after being made available.

Part interactive exploration and part experiment in self-discovery, the evening will invite guests to explore a collection of curious objects, toys and trinkets and become aware of the stories, assumptions and associations their minds create around them. Through neuroscience, storytelling, live music, personal reflection and meaningful conversation, participants will encounter firsthand a deceptively simple idea: meaning isn't found. It's made.

"Humans are meaning-making, story-creating creatures. Give us an ordinary object and almost instantly, our minds begin filling in the blanks," said Koch. "We name it. We think about its purpose. We associate it with experiences we've had, TV shows we've seen, people we like or don't like. The Perception Box Adventure is a playful way to catch our minds in the act and see how differently other people perceive what we think we already know."

The collaboration brings together two organizations committed to creating opportunities that deepen self-awareness and human connection. The Jar has been a grantee of Unlikely Collaborators for the past two years, and The Perception Box Adventure represents the latest evolution of a growing partnership, with additional collaborative events already in development.

Founded in Boston in 2019, The Jar builds a cultural community at the intersection of equity, relationships and art, creating gatherings designed to bring together people who might not otherwise find themselves in the same room. Its programming uses art and culture as catalysts for connection, reflection and encountering one another across differences.

Unlikely Collaborators creates and supports programs, storytelling and research that help people examine the internal forces shaping how they understand themselves, others and the world. Central to its work is the Perception Box, a framework developed by Koch to describe the subjective mental models through which each of us perceives reality.

Our Perception Box is shaped by our beliefs, life experiences, education, values, memories, physiology, unconscious patterns and the meaning we have made from what has happened to us. It influences what we notice, how we interpret what happens to us and what we believe is possible. When we become aware of that box, even briefly, we create space between what happens and the meaning we automatically assign to it. That space can allow for greater curiosity, a greater capacity to sit with uncertainty and difficult emotions, and greater openness toward others.

The Perception Box Adventure brings this framework to life, transforming an abstract idea into something participants can see, feel and explore together.

"The Jar starts with relationships, and our happenings are built around creating the conditions for people to encounter art, ideas and one another in new ways," said Guy Ben-Aharon, founder and executive director of The Jar. "This collaboration with Unlikely Collaborators gives our community an entirely new way to do that by turning our attention inward and becoming curious about what each of us brings into the room."

The evening reflects a conviction shared by both organizations: changing how we understand one another begins with becoming more aware of how we understand ourselves.

About Unlikely Collaborators

Unlikely Collaborators is a nonprofit organization founded and led by CEO Elizabeth R. Koch dedicated to fostering transformative storytelling, developing human connection and resolving internal conflict. Unlikely Collaborators starts from the perspective that external conflict often arises from unconscious, unresolved internal conflict within each of us. Founded on the belief that the way we perceive the world is highly subjective, the organization creates and supports programs, storytelling, research and other initiatives that challenge assumptions, spark meaningful dialogue and invite people into deeper self-awareness in community.

Central to this work is the Perception Box™, a framework developed by Koch to describe the mental models through which we perceive ourselves and the world around us. By becoming aware of the forces shaping our individual Perception Boxes, we can begin to loosen rigid patterns of perception and create greater room for curiosity, connection and possibility.

For more information, visit unlikelycollaborators.com.

About The Jar

Founded in Boston in 2019, The Jar is a cultural organization building community at the intersection of equity, relationships and art. Through a diverse range of cultural programming, The Jar creates opportunities for people from different backgrounds and life experiences to gather, encounter new perspectives and engage with art and one another.

The Jar's approach begins with relationships and seeks to create diverse, inclusive audiences in which traditional barriers can give way to connection, curiosity and discovery. Its programming has included staged readings, neighborhood salons, stand-up comedy, cabaret, poetry and other cultural gatherings designed to delight, ignite and unite its community.

For more information, visit jumpinthejar.org.

About Elizabeth R. Koch

Elizabeth R. Koch is a writer, social entrepreneur, and founder of multiple mission-driven organizations exploring the intersection of storytelling, scientific research, and human development. She is the CEO and founder of Unlikely Collaborators, a nonprofit that brings people together from diverse disciplines and backgrounds to examine how beliefs, identity narratives, and adversity shape perception. As cofounder of the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation, she supports interdisciplinary scientific research across a wide variety of fields relating to identity and meaning-making, including neuroscience, psychology, child development, interoceptive awareness, and predictive processing. Her Perception Box framework has been integrated into curriculum and leadership training models, including work with Search Inside Yourself Global, which provides education in emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and resilience for organizations and leaders around the world. She developed the Perception Box framework to illuminate the internal lens through which individuals interpret the world and themselves.

SOURCE Unlikely Collaborators