You’re Not Experiencing the World—You’re Creating It
Wait… Am I Making This Up?
(A gentle invitation to rethink everything… in the best possible way.)
Right now, I’m sitting at my table. There’s a soft light stretching across the floor, the sound of birds outside my window, and the faint smell of coffee still lingering from earlier. It’s all happening around me. Or at least… it seems that way.
But what if I told you that none of this is actually happening “out there”?
That every color, every sound, every object, every scent—is being created in my mind.
I know, I know. It sounds a little out-there at first. But hang with me for a minute. Because this little twist in perspective changes everything—and it brings with it a kind of peace and freedom that can’t be faked.
Seeing Isn’t Believing—It’s Creating
You’ve probably seen that dress on the internet. You know the one—some people swear it’s white and gold, others swear it’s black and blue. It caused full-blown arguments across dinner tables and Twitter threads. Same photo. Same pixels. And yet, completely different realities.
How?
Because we don’t see with our eyes—we see with our minds. Our brains interpret wavelengths of light, fill in gaps, apply past experiences, and create what we see. Color doesn’t live in the fabric of a dress. It lives only in our perception. (For what it’s worth, the dress is definitely white and gold in my “reality”.)
Sound? Same deal. There’s no actual “sound” in the air—just vibrations. Your ears take in the vibrations, and your brain turns it into a dog barking, a baby laughing, or your favorite song. The only place the sound occurs is in your head.
That table in front of you? It feels solid, looks a certain color, maybe even holds a memory or a story. But all of that—every aspect of it—exists only in your mind. Your senses pick up raw signals, but it’s your brain that turns those signals into “wood,” “smooth,” “sturdy,” “mine.” Without your perception, there is no table as you know it. What you’re experiencing isn’t the object itself—it’s a fully immersive mental rendering. A personal, moment-by-moment creation.
You’re the Projector, Not the Screen
Here’s why this matters—not just in some fun, brain-bendy way, but in a deep, life-clarifying way:
We don’t live in the world as it is.
We live in the world as it appears to us.
And that appearance is being created from within.
We’re not passive observers, watching a fixed reality. We’re active participants—projecting meaning, color, sound, emotion, and experience onto a screen that seems like it’s outside of us.
That doesn’t mean the world isn’t real. It just means that the version of it you experience—what you see, feel, and hear—is being custom-generated by your own mind, moment to moment.
And when you see that… things start to soften.
So… What’s the Point?
Well, here’s one:
If your entire experience of life is being created from within you—not just your feelings, but your whole sensory reality—then you don’t have to keep chasing peace out there. You don’t have to fix every circumstance, control every person, or rearrange the furniture of your life to feel okay.
Because you’re the source. Not the victim.
That doesn’t mean we stop participating in life. (You still gotta do the dishes and return the texts.) But you begin to move through the world with less pressure, less urgency, and more clarity. You stop trying so hard to manipulate the “outside” and start getting curious about how your experience is really being made.
Just Start Noticing
This isn’t something you have to “practice.” It’s something you’ll start to see. And once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
Notice how the same room feels different when you're calm vs. when you're anxious.
Notice how a cloudy day can seem cozy one day and depressing the next.
Notice how someone’s tone can hit you differently depending on your mood.
The world didn’t change. Your mind did.
You’re not reacting to a painting. You’re the artist.
Thanks for being here and exploring this with me. I know this might stretch the edges of how we’re used to thinking about reality—but there’s something incredibly comforting about realizing that the peace, color, and clarity we seek has been coming from inside all along.
And if nothing else, you now have a great excuse for why your friend sees the dress all wrong. 😉