German Biologist Jakob von Uexkull coined the term Umwelt to describe our ‘self-centered world’. Umwelt describes our unique sensory perception of the world, and how this models how we perceive or experience our lives within the world.
With all that is happening in the world at this moment, I think reflecting on your Umwelt is worth a moments ponder. Is what you are perceiving real ? Or is your experience of this moment based on your limited sensory Umwelt ?
The Senses
We each have five physical senses – Hearing, Sight, Taste, Touch & Smell – yet we all experience our senses in different ways based on our individual genetics and how we express our genes. And not only does this change our individual perception of the world, but it also changes our response to the world… including our behaviours, action & reactions.
We hear sounds within the 20 to 20,000 hz frequency band, though each of us ‘hears’ sounds in unique ways. But of course sound exists both above & beyond these frequencies. A cat can hear up to 64,000 hz, a mouse up to 91,000 hz and a Beluga Whale up to 123,000.
Humans can only physically see the world through the visible light rainbow spectrum, however many animals can see infra-red, ultraviolet and some can only see limited colours within the spectrum. Whilst most animals don’t have the physical acuity of human eyesight, they use other well developed senses to ‘see’ such that overall ‘sight’ often far surpasses that of humans.
And the science of our smell is based on two theories – whether we smell via vibrational frequency or via receptors. And then throw in the whole limbic system emotional smell response that activates neural circuits for memory (and even past life memory) and smell can in fact be a very layered sensory experience.
With so much limitation on how we experience the world using just our physical 5 senses, and so much diversity in how each of us individually experiences the world… it starts to make you wonder – What is real and what isn’t ?
Just because we can’t see something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Love is very real to me, yet I can physically see it! Just because we see/hear/smell something in a certain manner, doesn’t necessarily mean that is how it actually prevails within the world. And just because our brain through our 5 Human Senses ‘tells us’ what is ‘true’ about life, this may not in fact be the case – its just your personal Unwelt. Your personal limited perception of vibratory stimulations within your environment.
And then add into the mix your unconscious beliefs, behavioural programming and neural circuiting based on past experiences… is it any wonder that each of us during 2020 have an entirely different perception of this moment ?
My personal Umwelt
I have always been fascinated with how our senses function. Just like my brother, ever since childhood I have experienced ‘Synesthesia‘, the crossing over of senses.
For instance, when my brother hears a musical note, in his mind he sees a colour and experiences a strong smell and both of these senses then invoke an emotion toward the note. And every individual musical note has both a unique colour & odour. Such that a musical score becomes a full bodied multi-sensory emotional menagerie.
My experience of synesthesia is a little different, whereby when I view an object in nature it could be a tree, a crystal, a rock – I can smell it, taste it, and feel it simply through my sight and this evokes a strong emotion/feeling toward the object. It sometimes occurs for metallic objects too… such that in a restaurant, on occasion the sensory vibration of cutlery really puts me off my food!
So my question is ‘does the crystal really have a smell’, even though other people are unable to smell it too? Or does the ‘taste’ of the tree I am hugging really induce a feeling of Joy even though others aren’t having the same sensory experience as me ? Or is our reliance upon our 5 physical senses limiting a more expansive experience of life here on Earth ?
What if we have the capacity to evolve our senses like the animal kingdom does, and use our sense of touch to read, or smell to feel, sight to hear and taste to see. Or even use all of our 5 senses in an expanded capacity to activate our 6th sense of intuition. Our Heart sense of divine-intelligent knowing. After all, 99% of our genetics are microbial, could we not call upon these genetics of the Anima Realm to experience our world in heightened ways? They don’t call it ‘gut feeling’ for nothing!
Control & Freedom
In the context of the cosmos, humans are just tiny speckles within the starry-scape. I think that fact can be rather daunting to wrap our heads around, hence we tend to want to control our environment in order to feel safe. Reliance on our limited 5 senses becomes like a safety net, and our world is narrowed in experience in order to keep ourselves within a safe lockdown box.
For instance, if something is ‘unseen’ within the world, this can induce states of fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of calamity. Fear that causes you to lash out and eliminate the unseen, in case it eliminates you first. And because you cannot ‘see’ the ‘unseen’, elimination itself is fraught with anxiety, worry and trepidation. War on the unseen seems justified even, to kill at all costs in order to live.
Is that really living? Is that who we see ourselves to be as humans? Is that really who we want to be within this world? Brutal dominance, no matter the cost?
Is our fearful control actually about elucidating our ultimate freedom, or is it a means to shrink the size of our safety net box as our human egos vie for dominance? Isn’t that simply boxing ourselves in an ever shrinking corner of the world ? Where to from here?
Suicide rates are up over 200%. Domestic violence up 40%. Anxiety and depression at record highs of unknown proportions. Health of our entire population declining at rapid rates as we decimate the integral microbiotic balance of our planet through our chemical warfare on life. And people are losing hope for the future, their livelihoods, the purpose of being human. Is this then living?
Yes at the time of writing there have been 221 deaths from COVID here in Australia (and my heart is with families who have lost loved ones), yet lets not lose sight of the fact that in 2019, 902 people died here in Australia in response to a Flu virus. And also remember that viruses do not actually kill you, it is the bodies underlying dis-eased states that lead to sickness or death. And are we now not accelerating or co-creating even greater dis-eased states within the human body by spraying our planet with a vast array of anti-microbials that are in fact an essential part of vitalistic living?
Loneliness is one of the biggest killers of our elderly, and it is mortifying to me that so many of our beloved grandmothers & grandfathers are dying unceremonial deaths alone. Is this not inhumane? I am all for loving up those in this world that are more vulnerable, and doing what ever is possible foster their wellness – but is locking up the elderly alone in a four walled box acceptable? Wouldn’t we be imprisoned if we did this to our animals? And why isn’t the life-giving nourishment of Sunshine, Fresh Air, Chemical Free Water, Nutrient dense Food and above all the loving tender touch of a loved one considered an ESSENTIAL component of Health, Vitality & Immune resilience?
All life is sacred. Let that really sink in for a minute. Not just SOME life, but ALL life. Maybe its time to befriend the unseen and discover a whole new realm of experience within the word. Maybe this is the moment that calls us get out of the ‘pro’ or ‘anti’ camps, and instead rise up to evolved conversation of WE and TOGETHERNESS?
Our Invitation
What if the unseen world is an invitation for us to evolve into a greater human potential ? There are more viruses in existence than stars within the Universe. Surely if the microbial world wanted to annihilate humans she would have easily done so by now. So considering the microbial world is an important part of our human health & well being both inside and out (in fact an essential part), and ALL lifeforms on Earth have evolved from microbes, doesn’t it seem fit to ask the question: ‘Hey COVID-19 virus, what is your purpose?’.
To the logical mind that may seem like a crazy question. Talk to a virus, you must be insane!!! Yet, pathogens within our body ‘talk’ to us ALL of the time. They communicate with our immune system to help us keep our pathogenic balance in check. Bacteria talk to our Mitochondria ‘asking’ them to produce immune boosting substances. And viruses have the capacity to ‘talk’ to our DNA, changing our genetic expressions that help us evolve with a changing environment.
What if we expand our personal Umwelts to really ‘listen’ to our microbial friends. What are they telling us about our world. About us humans. About this moment in Earth’s evolution? Just because our Human 5 senses don’t speak the language of pathogens, doesn’t mean that their ‘voice’ is not worthy of listening to. Maybe its an invitation for us to evolve our sensory intelligence and discover the HOW’s of nature-listening.
I personally view this moment in Earth’s herstory as a invitation to alter our relationship with the natural world. To discover the interconnection of life, and the important role that EVERY component plays in the greater fabric of the natural world. An opportunity to move out of the need to classify ANYTHING as good or bad, and instead awaken our personal Umwelts to discover the inherent divinity in all things.
To remember life is sacred. Life is beautiful. And life is here to be lived and loved in reciprocity for the gift of life itself. All LOVE.
Join Me
If you feel guided to expand your personal Umwelt and answer the invitation, then I would love for you to join me for my online New Earth Era Course, or my Lightrition your Life Course.
Both of these visionary courses take you into the Heart of Life itself, and help expand your experience of the Divine within all things, and embody the inherent healthful intelligence of the body to heal, restore and evolve during this momentus time in Earth’s Herstory.
