What it's like to have no 'minds eye' 👁
➕ The Ohio train disaster, why I love nostalgia, & Gemma Styles asked me to be on her podcast 🤯
Omg I have had the most gorg weekend - no big events to go to, no rain, no obligations to do anything except read, write & relax - it was truly a dream! I’ve decided that instead of giving you a day-by-day ‘what I’m doing/ reading/ consuming’ every morning, I’m going to save all my hot recs and stories about my week for a weekly diary entry to all our paying supporters, which will be doubled with all my ‘final thoughts’ links!!
This way I get to let you all into my life a bit more (picture me showing you my thrifted books/ clothes, Hayden’s latest recipes, the embarro things I did that week, the trials and tribulations of running a business) in an even more long-form/ cuter way. Hope you’re into it - and if you are, upgrade to a paid plan to get a lil more access into my life!
Forget hearing things in your head - can you PICTURE things in your head?
I’m on Nostalgiatok and I don’t wanna leave
Gemma Styles asked me to be on her podcast 😵💫
🗺Around the world 🗺
Andrew Tate, the latest on the Ohio toxic train disaster, missing Chinese protesters and more.
Forget hearing things in your head - can you PICTURE things in your head?
Ok, so after writing about my lack of inner monologue, a BUNCH of you came back with another cool/weird brain thing - the fact that some of you have no ‘minds eye’ or an inability to picture things in your mind. Now, as someone who’s obsessed with the fact that we all think SO differently (yet we have no way of ever really knowing how other people think) this concept of being ‘mind blind’- known as aphantasia - is so interesting to me!! It’s also cray HOW many of you responded saying you had this thing (we really have never had a unique experience right??) so I thought I’d share a few of your responses:
Amanda:
“Through conversations with friends and recent visits to a therapist who uses hypnotherapy and visualization I realised I'm quite different...I don't see images in my mind. The only time I see them is when I dream, but I can't conjure up an image of my mum's face or even my own. And I definitely don't see memories like they are movies in my mind! I also can't see images when I read a book, so I have a strong preference for the movie versions of books otherwise I really enjoy non-fiction.”
The best way I can describe how my brain works is "conceptually". I've always said I have a photographic memory except I can't see the photo. I can tell you exactly where a word is on a page (eg bottom left) and what the word is, but I can't "see" the whole page.”
Jordana:
“Weirder than no inner voice, I have no inner pictures! I can’t visualise anything, I can’t conjure up an image of something I’ve seen before. If I close my eyes and imagine all I see is the inside of my eyelids. It’s called aphantasia and about 2% of the population have it. Yes, I still dream pictures (different part of the brain) and I can still remember people and places I’ve been before if presented with a picture of them or if they’re standing in front of me.”
Alaina:
“Loving your content as always - I have such an internal monologue it's been interesting to hear you describe not having one. Do you know about Aphantasia where people literally cannot visualise in their head? Two people at our work have it, and it BLOWS my mind.”
Sytske:
“I’m late but YOU HAVE NO INNER MONOLOGUE?? what happens in your brain? Also it’s kinda funny because the past few days I have been incredibly intrigued with visualization and lack thereof (apparently called aphantasia) and how people generally go through life.”
Mishka:
LUCE! I genuinely feel so represented right now🥲 I’m part of that 9% and I had NO IDEA people could actually PICTURE things in their heads until last year. I am a HUGE bookworm and you normal people actually see a MOVIE play out in your head?! Crazy stuff…
Andrew:
“I have an inner monologue, but no minds eye. when asked to close my eyes and imagine - i just get static. AKA aphantasia.”
Meghan:
“I do have an inner monologue…. But I don’t know if you know some people (like me) can’t visualize anything in their head?! It’s called aphantasia, and I can see dreams, but in the day time I can’t imagine what an apple would look like. Makes me particularly bad at Pictionary (though probably not the only reason).”
According to aphantasia.com, aphantasia is… pretty much what you all mentioned above:
Aphantasia is the inability to visualize. Otherwise known as image-free thinking. People with aphantasia don’t create any pictures of familiar objects, people, or places in their mind’s eye. Not for thoughts, memories, or images of the future. We lack this quasi-perceptual “picture-it” system completely.
As I said before, I’m insanely fascinated with the way we all think differently, so now I’d like to know from you:
I’m on Nostalgiatok
Ok, so I know that some people have complicated thoughts about nostalgia and the dangers of living in the past (Matty Healy once called himself “mister nostalgia,” but more recently said at a gig where they played their first-ever album: “I want to remind you that nostalgia is a sickness” - what is that man if not a walking contradiction tho??) but I’m here to tell you that I love it. SO, it’s completely unsurprising and predictable that my two favourite TikTok accounts right now are:
Total Trash Art
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Truly all this account does is flip through old Dolly magazines, look at 2000s trends, show all the old beauty products we used to buy/ wear (I’m looking at you Impulse & Lipsmackers), play all the old songs we used to listen to (who remembers Strawberry Kisses?) and bring me complete joy. Not just because times were ✨simpler✨ but because a lot of this shit/ these aesthetics are coming back and it’s just so cool to see the origins and know you were there for them.
Out of context Hannah Montana
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Miley Cyrus RAN Disney Channel when I was younger (I don’t care if you think differently) and Hannah Montana was my favourite show of all time. A popstar living a double life? With her best friends? Who goes on actual tours in real life too? All of it was for me. When I was about 13 a couple of my besties and I decorated the house “Hannah Montana themed,” set up mattresses in the lounge, and bought the special Hannah Montana 3D glasses to stay up and watch the “Best of Both Worlds 3D Concert Experience’ and at the time it was one of the best nights of my life (still holds up tbh). Now, every time a clip of the show or a peek into the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of it comes up on my FYP it not only takes me back to some of the best times of my young life, but it’s also a reminder of how fucking talented Miley was since she was legit 14. (And yes I know I could just log into Disney Plus and watch a whole episode instead of seeing it on my feed but I’m a fucked Gen Z who likes to watch movies and TV shows in 30-second bites on TikTok. Sue me!)
And while we’re talking about nostalgia, I read this piece over the weekend and kinda fucked with it (espesh the monoculture/ lack of shared cultural touchstone stuff):
Gemma Styles asked me to be on her podcast 😵💫
I AM LITERALLY DEAD!!! Tell 15-year-old Luce that Harry Styles’ legit sister would be asking HER to go on a podcast?!? Gem has a podcast called Good Influence and I’m going to be recording it with her tomorrow morning (which I’ll write all about in my Friday diary entry so you’re gonna wanna upgrade to paid to get all my thoughts 👀)
🗺Around the world 🗺
NZ:
NZ is still reeling from the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle. 11 people are confirmed dead, 3000 people are unaccounted for and 28,000 homes and businesses are still without power. Some ways to help below:
How to help in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle (The Spinoff)
Cyclone Gabrielle Community Support (Givealittle)
Europe:
Andrew Tate threatens legal action against accuser (BBC)
Andrew Tate and his brother (my least favourite men in the news cycle right now), sent a ‘cease and desist’ letter to one of the women who came forward with rape and human trafficking allegations, threatening to sue her and her parents for $300m (£249m) if she did not retract her statements. More here.
China:
The protesters who've gone missing as China deepens crackdown (BBC)
Many of the protesters who took part in the ✨unprecedented✨ protests against the zero covid regime in China have seemed to disappear since. More here.
USA:
The latest on the Ohio toxic train disaster (CNN)
I’ve been reading a BUNCH about the train derailment in East Palestine Ohio and especially how overburdened and over-exhausted railroad workers had BEEN saying something like this would happen (thread below.) More here.
Jimmy Carter, 98, Opts for Hospice Care (The New York Times)
“The 39th president has decided to forgo further medical treatment and will “spend his remaining time at home with his family,” the Carter Center announced.” More here.
To get my Friday diary entry and a WHOLE week’s worth of final thoughts on a Friday, become a paying supporter 👀
not only do I have a minds eye where i can vividly picture anything i want but I also “see”music in it!! I have synesthesia (like Lorde does) and I often see the same colors she does when talking about her music- but I also see shapes and patterns as music plays. can be quite distracting.
Love that you can relate anything back to Matty Healy 😅