For years, I thought visualization was just a figure of speech. It never crossed my mind that some people actually SEE things in their minds.
When I was young, I remember people talking about “visualizing” or “picturing” something and I thought they were being figurative. I didn't realize some people actually SAW things in their minds.
It wasn’t until adulthood that I learned about this and also realized that I don’t.
My brain can take in pictures, but it doesn’t create pictures. I had been filling in the blanks around “visualization” for so long, and I didn't have the context of being in other people's brains, that I didn’t even realize I was different.
This past week, I had a conversation with someone who is highly visual in their thinking. They asked me what it’s like not to be able to visualize.
“So what do you see?” they asked.
I laughed and said, “Well, that’s exactly it. I don’t.”
It clearly broke THEIR brain when I said that. But over the years, I’ve realized that my brain adapted in other ways. I developed a strong memory for steps and processes, and I learned to think several steps ahead as a substitute for "picturing" what might happen (alas, this doesn't work when it comes to chess). And as a writer, I became known for painting vivid “visual pictures” with words, not because I could see them in my mind’s eye, but because words became my brushstrokes to paint the pictures for myself.
Most importantly, beyond understanding how my own mind works, what I’ve come to understand is that not thinking a certain way isn’t a fault. It isn’t that something is missing. It’s just different.
And different can be powerful. A collection of people who think in varied ways -- some through pictures, others through steps, others still in completely unique ways -- can create something far greater than any one of us could alone.
How does your brain work best? Through pictures, steps, or something else entirely?
Marketing Director at IXI
1wLove seeing our research team’s work shared like this. Vision really is the most extraordinary system we have. ❤️🔥