Since the 'I am' is the continuous link throughout all the events in your life it quite obviously forms the sum total of all your perception. It is the very basis of your perception, no 'I am' no perception. This 'I am' is an illusion, for like a dream it has spontaneously appeared on you and one day it will disappear. All that appears and disappears cannot be true and since you are a witness to it you stand apart. You are not the 'I am' but prior to it.