What is it like?

Copyright Ron Almog

I have been asked many times over the years what it like to have an uncanny ability to understand human behavior, spot deception and see the truth.

When I first found out I had this ability and I was asked this question, I truly had no clue how to answer.

What was it like to be me?

I remember thinking what is like to be YOU? 

How do you answer that?

There is no easy answer because you can't be me and I can't be you.

But having lived with the knowledge I have an unusual ability for years now, I have been able to immerse myself into the mindset of the normal person's thinking and I now believe I have an idea how to answer the question what it is like to be me.

Imagine living in a brilliantly colorful world--where red glows like a neon stop sign or a candy apple tulip, where blue varies in shade from light sky blue to deep midnight blue in hue.  Where daffodils spray fields in yellow and tulips in pink, and glow like an evening sunset.

You get that picture.

Now imagine you meet someone who can only see black and white.

How would you tell them what you see?

How do you define red, pink, blue and all the hues?

Imagine everyone around you only sees black and white with maybe a hint of some color in every fiftieth person you meet.

How would you explain your world to them?

How would you explain how red makes you feel?  And that you know instinctively it means "caution" and can also mean romantic love--that our hearts are red--that flesh is red--that it conveys so many messages?

How do you communicate that--that which others can't see?

Seeing red can be brilliant, and yet it can be alarming and concerning.

When you see color--you know each color definitely conjures up a response for you--it's stimulus, but for people who only see shades of gray, they don't react.  They see your reactions as foreign, unfamiliar and odd.

How would YOU feel?

Yet you know you are seeing something.  How can they not see it? It's so obvious before your eyes, right?

You come to realize that you perceive a very different world, and react to stimuli much differently than most people.

You understand others, but no one understands you.

You must work to fit into their world.

I feel like I am person who can see full color living in a color-blind world.

For years, I never met a person who understood me or got me.

But that has all changed today.  Since I have discovered my differences, I have learned to articulate the different hues and shades I see. I am able to explain it in words so others can get a hint of what I experience.  I can share the "colors" I see with others and it has illuminated my world beyond color. It has added so much more light and depth.

And in this process of self-discovery, I have also been blessed with the opportunity to meet several other people who truly see what I see and can share in a similar experience of life.  For that I am so very grateful.