I have synesthesia. Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon in which stimulation in one sense triggers an automatic, involuntary experience in another sense. There's many different types of synesthesia, like seeing sounds, tasting words, and feeling a certain sensation on their skin when smelling a certain scent. I have the most common type of synesthesia which is associating numbers, months, and seasons with colors, which is called, "grapheme-color synesthesia." While researching for this article, I learned I have another type called, "spatio-temporal synesthesia," which is the reason why I see the days of the week and the months of the year the way I do. (see picture below)
For the longest time I thought everyone saw numbers and letters like I do. However, I found that to not be true when having a conversation with my dad about how I see numbers. I told him that the number 2 is blue and he thought I was crazy. After that conversation, I started Googling and found out I have synesthesia.
Once I found out the way I see things in my brain actually had a name, I looked at the different types of synesthesia. In my opinion, I got the boring types. How cool would it be to taste words or see sounds? I feel like life would be like being at a concert all of the time.
I love my synesthesia because it's a part of who I am. It's how I see the world and it's unique about me! Since that day of learning that I had synesthesia, I have met more people who have it. Even celebrities like Anna Akana, Billy Joel, Marilyn Monroe, and artist Vincent Van Gogh have a type of synesthesia.
Having my type of synesthesia makes studying a lot easier if I color coat my notes to remember the content. For example, if my class was talking about Brazil, I would use a yellow or orange pen because I see Brazil as those colors.
In my Bullet Journal, my days of the week are color-coded to what colors I see them as. For your viewing pleasure, here is how I view the days of the week that I made on Paint! (I promise Friday and Saturday are different colors). The shape and size of the days are an example of how I have "spatio-temporal synesthesia" AND "grapheme-color synesthesia".
Also, here is a picture of my bullet journal weekly spread with my color-coded days of the week! (Sunday is sometimes green and sometimes gray, and I do not have a yellow pen so Monday is light green). It's obviously not the correct shape for me, but it's easier to write in it that way.
Synesthesia is very much a part of my life. It might be strange to some people because they couldn't imagine what it is like to think this way. Synesthesia is not a mental disease, nor is it a disability. It's just a fun perk about myself! I see the world differently than others. Anyone who has synesthesia experiences it differently and I think that is beautiful.
