Some people enjoy a private life filled with colors, shapes, flavors, and sounds the majority of the world doesn’t experience. These people are called synesthetes.
Last week’s blog generated a big response I wasn’t expecting. Some of you reached out to me, calling what I described a superpower. Some of you said you were envious of what I reported, and some of you asked the colors of your names. (It’s true. To me, all of your names have colors.)
In case you missed it, you can read last week’s blog installment HERE. Otherwise, enjoy these readers' responses.
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I totally see letters and numbers in color! My hubby thinks I’m crazy, but a bunch of my kids see it too. I had no idea it had a name! I see the numbers in a distinct physical format (as well as the months of the year). Glad I’m not alone in this! I see the months as a horseshoe with the opening to the right. There is a jump from December to January. I see numbers starting out horizontal from left to right, then going vertical!
Coco, Altoona, Wisconsin
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This has me thinking more about what I’m actually seeing with letters and numbers! The colors shift and don’t remain the same all of the time. I also have feelings towards letters and numbers… some I find warmer/colder in personality than others!
Bea, Monticello, Minnesota
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Letters don’t so much have a colour, but time has a shape. For example, the months of the year are in a circle and so right now, November, is at the southernmost part of the circle. I suppose that’s a form of synesthesia. I am in the midst of these ideas with my research work. Yesterday in our meeting (three PhDs and three associates–we are paired), we were talking about how the mind organizes adjectives into colour groups. Right now I am coding codings and finding like meanings (20 different colours). The researcher I am paired with also used colour, so we are going to put together our findings. The discussion went on to if labeling can truly be objective and how do we eliminate subjectivity when we are trying to find meanings to data. I think the takeaway is that one can’t, as much as we want trueness and faithfulness in handling data, subjectivity is always present.
Flo, Transcona, Manitoba
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Some of the colors and sizes have changed for me over the years. Letters have always been in various (though changing) colors, but they vary in size, shape, and arrangement! Letters for me arrange themselves in a spiral-like structure, sort of like a tornado funnel! That makes x, y, and z smaller and toward the bottom. Numbers have also been in color but aligned mostly left to right, much more orderly than letters!
I’m embarrassed to tell you that my mental prayer list (primarily family members) starts out with names (not faces!) in a horizontal sequence and then moves to a vertical arrangement! Weird! Maybe that’s like a family tree but not really.
Birdie, Newfolden, Minnesota
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