umwelt - nobody sees the world like you

You might think your ideas, interests and pursuits are overdone, saturated and not unique. But chances are, nobody has experienced that thing quite like you. This is your superpower. This is why nothing is ever too saturated.

It’s called umwelt, which is the specific way an organism experiences the world. We can extend this to the specific way each of us experiences the world.

So two people can be in the exact same room in the exact same situation, but each person will perceive, remember and experience the situation entirely differently.

Nice.

Big Think wrote an article (read here) on this jazz and I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately — especially how I can apply the idea in my life (as a traveler and artist).

Why We Don’t Always Realize the Value of What We Know

We’re too hard on ourselves. We don’t fully appreciate the epic sht that we’ve done or know. Why?

The curse of knowledge. This is a cognitive bias where we assume everyone knows what we know, because what we know feels so familiar and normal.

Step one is awareness. If it’s easy to you, it probably isn’t to someone else. So share that sht! :)

How I’m Using Umwelt in Freaking Life

Umwelt is a reminder that no one can ever fully know what you know or experience things as you do. Put another way, nothing is ever saturated.

So trying to express your ideas and experiences is worth it — even if it feels fruitless. This is hyper relevant for content creators or artists.

Just because someone painted the NYC skyline before doesn’t mean you won’t see it and do it differently. Similarly, just because the travel niche is super saturated doesn’t mean you can‘t start and grow a successful travel blog (check out my blog articles here).

Again, to really hammer this idea home, no one does you quite like you. It’s your authenticity and uniqueness. Your umami.

Never assume you have nothing to offer.

So go crush it and stumble with smile — embrace that freaking umwelt!

Later ✌️