So I said I'd be writing a series about my take on joy. I am... trying. Life got busy really quickly after I decided to do this project, but I did commit to this, so I'm going to do it. So, this is my take on joy: part two.
In my article My Take on Joy: A Series, Part One, I talked about depression and joy and the difference between who I used to be and who I am now. I've had a very good couple of months lately, but I know that it won't always be this way. Because of this, I'm delving into the subject of joy itself and all the things that bring me joy. One of those things is something called synesthesia. This article is about synesthesia - this subject brings me joy because I have synesthesia and I love learning, and writing about things like synesthesia gives me the opportunity to learn.
I hope you enjoy this article! I certainly enjoyed writing it. Let's begin.
Did you know that joy is an orange and yellow word? It's pretty. But not as pretty the word sky – I can't really begin to describe it, but its like a sunset of reds and yellows. And my favorite name, Kai, is all yellows and blues and pinks.
What I am describing is called grapheme-color synesthesia. I love it.
You might recognize the word synesthesia because I've written two poems about it from two relatively different angles. (If you would like to read them you can view them here and here.) I don't have synesthesia to the extremes that some people do. In fact, I have the most common form, but it still affects me and the way I see the world.
So, what even is synesthesia?
According to Thomas J. Palmeri, Randolph B. Blake, and Ren Marois, members of the psychology department and the Center for Integrative and Cognitive Neuroscience at Vanderbilt University, synesthesia is an anomalous blending of the senses in which the
stimulation of one modality simultaneously produces sensation in a
different modality.
The way it has always been explained to me sounds a little more simple: basically, it's a combination of the senses. Some people taste colors and see sounds. For example, Melissa McCracken actually paints what she sees when she listens to music, and it's amazing. There are so many different types of synesthesia, and some, like mine, are less intrusive than others, like McCracken's.
As I said earlier, I have grapheme-color synesthesia. According to the article "What Is Synesthesia" found on the Scientific American website, grapheme-color synesthesia "may be cross-wiring between digit and letter processing areas and color processing areas in the visual cortex, which occupy neighboring regions of the human brain." Some people actually see colors floating in their minds when they read or hear a word. I've heard in some cases that they actually see the colors on the page when they read a black and white document. Not so for me.
When I think about words or numbers I see the colors I associate with them. Thankfully, I didn't have any devastating experience when I found out that not everyone has synesthesia, as many people unfortunately do. It was a very relaxed experience, actually. One day when I was 11, I was simply talking to a college student who was having dinner with us and I mentioned that her name was yellow and black (sort of like a bee with one stripe). She immediately became excited because she knew what I was talking about and told me all about it.
The reason this subject brings me joy is because it is fascinating, it's really funny to have people ask me what color their name is, and, most importantly, it affects the way I see the world. For example, I don't like some names or letters or numbers because of the colors, sometimes I avoid certain words, etc. Once when I was little, I was playing a game by myself and I couldn't decide on the character's name. I wanted her name to be Danielle because it is a deep, rich blue. I wanted it to be Robin because it is a dark red with a blue speck. I wanted it to be Rose because I loved the dusty pinkish gray color it is. I couldn't pick, so I decided to call the character Irene because Irene is a white word, completely neutral.
I'll admit these processes don't really affect me anymore, but they still happen in the back of my mind. And I love it. Except when I fail a geometry test because the colors of the numbers don't match the colors of the angles and I can't differentiate between them. Then it gets a little annoying.
Most of the time, however, I really enjoy the unique perspective I am blessed to have on life. I love learning about things and it seems that, at least with synesthesia, I get to learn something new every day.
A few years ago, I was talking to one of my teacher's daughters who is about four years younger than me. She knew I had a form of synesthesia and she told me about a book she had recently read called A Mango Shaped Space. I bought it and read it and I am really glad I did. This book was written by author Wendy Mass in order to educate young kids about synesthesia. I actually recommend that everyone remotely interested in synesthesia read this book, regardless of age. The protagonist, Mia, has extreme forms of synesthesia, but it's an excellent and easy introduction into the subject, and it also touches on the subjects of friendship, grief and bullying in a very realistic way. It is a very good book.
So, that is my little lecture on synesthesia. As I stated at the beginning of the article, I want to delve into the things that bring me joy. I want to learn about them and share them with others, because that is what life is about. Creating a community to share with. I hope you don't mind me sharing this fantastic information about synesthesia with you. Learning about it, writing about it and sharing it with my community makes me very happy. It brings me (you guessed it) joy.
