The Overview Effect: How we can get an outer space experience here on Earth.

1 Biodiversity Action in 1 Minute

This is a spacey one, but stay with me for a second.

Imagine you're floating above the Earth.

No noise. No borders. Just a glowing blue ball suspended in the vastness of space. You can see entire continents at once. Storms swirling over oceans. Mountain ranges casting shadows at sunrise. And not a single passport checkpoint in sight.

That moment. Seeing our planet from above hits astronauts like a thunderclap of clarity. It's called the Overview Effect, and it changes people. Fast.

They describe it as a wave of awe, unity, and responsibility. A deep knowing that we're all in this together, sharing one fragile home. Conflicts, egos, and political lines suddenly seem... absurd. What matters is life itself and protecting this tiny oasis in the dark.

And here's the beautiful twist: I believe you don't need to be an astronaut to feel it.

You can get a taste of the Overview Effect on a quiet forest walk, watching a sunrise, standing on a mountaintop. Or simply by zooming out of your everyday busyness and remembering what a privilege it is to live on this wild planet.

But how can we live with that perspective, even while our feet stay on the ground?

My attempts:

Creating time blocks in my calendar for nature.

Take a look at the night sky.

Looking at something tiny.

Seeing clouds passing by.

Walking barefoot.

We are quite lucky to live. The Overview Effect made that again much clearer to me. Thank you, John, for sharing the effect with me this week.

What do you think, can we create an overview effect right down here?

I am a human and actually write back.

Stay wild,

Oli

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🎁 Herd Perk: Rize is an AI-powered time tracker that improves your focus. First month for free on me.

📖 What I read: Professional sport organizations as potential champions of biodiversity conservation

🦸‍♂️ Biodiversity Builder who inspired me: Philip Lu

🐘 Next speaker on Wildya: Urban rewilding: How Elise Van Middelem Is Rewilding Cities with SUGi

📹 What I watched: Future Council

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P.S. You are currently not making the progress you like with your nature venture? Let's change that. 12 weeks. You, 9 fellow ecopreneurs and me in our Ecopreneur Bootcamp.