-
Synesthesia
I just found something out about myself that I had no idea I had, as I thought everyone was like me! My boyfriend and I were talking one night last week, and somehow got on the subject of the concept of time. I told him that Thanksgiving Day was like 5:23pm on my mental time calendar and he looked at me like I was nuts and bust out laughing, saying "What ARE you talking about"?!!!
So I proceeded to explain to him my mental construct of time (which I have known in my mind ever since I can remember - I used to draw it in journals trying to figure it out). Anyway, I explained to him how a year in my mind is like a oval-ish shape with Dec. 25 at the very bottom and July 4th at the top, its the movement goes clock-wise through the months but in a linear convoluted way that is hard to explain. A week as a totally different look, as does a day or a minute in my mind. He's just looking at me blankly as I tried to describe all this. Later that day he emails me an article about a rare form of synesthesia in which your mind sees shapes and patterns for the concept of time, so I looked into it further and was amazed to read about people that experience time in such a visual, spatial context the same ways as I do! I was laughing as different people described their particular shapes because finally I found people that I could relate to! I honestly thought everyone did that and over the years I would ask my friends "how they saw time" and most would look at me strangely...
Anyway, it tickles me to no end that this "thing" I do has a name! Who else here experiences the concept of time like this?
I should add that I do not have any other forms of synesthesia; I don't "taste" or "hear" colors, etc....
-
I'm not sure if this is quite the same thing, but I correlate fragrances with colors, and I have certain fragrances that I can only wear with blue clothing, for example.
-
The fragrance color thing is totally foreign to me. But the time shapes have been with me since childhood.
I wish i could draw it here - much easier to explain.
A week is a long oval. Mon thru fri on bottom going counterclockwise from left to right. Weekends are on the top and are equally as long as the weekdays.
My year goes counterclockwise too. Summer takes the whole bottom. The rest of the year is squished into the short sides and the top. January is really long at the top ... again a flat oval.
I think I liked Non-school times the best.
-
For me a year is a circle, and during late December I conceive of the circle starting over... so around Lucy's Day (12/13... which formerly coincided with the Winter Solstice, on the old calendar) it is a nostalgic opportunity to "close the family circle" by bringing kids home ... getting people back together.
Failing that, I can dream of Lussekatter -- saffron buns -- for breakfast!
-
My year is also a circle with New Year's Day on top and it moves counterclockwise. This may be because seasons cycle to me, despite the teleological view of my religious upbringing. The week is elongated, probably due to the format of calendars. I don't see this as synesthesia because I am not crossing any of the five senses.
-
Here is one article I found that describes what I experience pretty well.
discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/04/02/the-rare-humans-who-see-time-have-amazing-memories/#.WhshG3lrzIU
Here's another one:
http://www.zmescience.com/science/ne...e-synesthesia/
-
I guess I'm unimaginative, I see time as linear, although when I consider seasons it's more of a Mobius Strip where time's linear advancements return to it's beginning.
-
How interesting, I think that when I am not as 'in a box' I connect to things in multiple ways. I know that I don't see things as linear, I do see things as a 3-D spider web of connections. I do need to slow down often and be careful how I explain things as I talk to others that is for sure. Things have connections and smells and colors when they don't necessarily have these qualities.
Do you think this affects your life? Maybe in the art work you do?
-
Your description reminds me of Temple Grandin and her book, "Thinking in Pictures."
-