Wednesday, March 5, 2014

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.

3 comments:

  1. I understand you! I see the world that way! I used to wonder why, but I have learned it is a gift from God!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What you describe is the way I feel about the animals we share the world with. People see a hint of shared sentience in their cat or dog, but they look on other sentient beings as a hamburger or a steak or something to be tortured and hacked to pieces for a bit of a snack. Ever since I was old enough to interact with animals, I've understood them amd my parents say that, as a toddler, I communicated better with our dog than I did with them. It must make you mad sometimes, as way it does me, that people cannot see what is leaping out at them! I can form a bond with most animals that people are shocked by. They just seem to know that I see them more as they are than most people do. So I get where you're coming from, although our abilities differ. I would really love to step into your shoes for a day and experience it, but I think it would also drive me crazy and make me really sad.

    ReplyDelete
  3. S - I just wanted to say I echo every single thing you said here. And to add that I think someone sensitive enough to do this with animals can do it with humans as well... the only thing needed is extra courage because humans lie. Animals do not.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.