synæsthesia

recently i have had several discussions with my lpc supervisor, stacey, concerning our experiences as synesthetes, that is, having the condition of synesthesia. a brief explanatory comment:

neuroscientists have verified that synesthesia is a specific condition, which occurs when an individual who receives a stimulus in one sense modality simultaneously experiences a sensation in another, e.g. hearing sound in color. (see the wikipedia link above for specific descriptions of the various types of synestheisa)


our first conversation about synesthesia was rather eye-opening (pun intended). since that time, my investigations into the phenomenon have yielded an increasing amount of self-affirming information, helping me to gain a greater understanding of how i have always related to the world.

while many synesthetes report experiences during childhood where they made comments such as "play the purple music," i fear that my desire to conform to what i believed to be the right & proper way of viewing life instead caused a suffocation of expression and creativitiy. obviously certain aspects of my synesthesia have been quite useful, such as how i view the calendar (as a whole year and as it breaks down into months, weeks, days, etc.). to say to someone "this weekend is a couple of tall towers" would likely result in a reprimand of some sort; however, viewing upcoming days in terms of color and size is quite helpful if you are making plans. perhaps that has contributed to my rejection of a daily organizer for the majority of my life.

i am excited at this [seemingly] new lease on life. as my superego allows my id's color to flow into my ego, my perspective on many aspects of life is changed. emotional content that was once reigned in by monochromatic conformation powerfully bursts forward. i feel as if i am living the life of pleasantville.

partially unrelated, this is a red-letter weekend. tonight (thursday) i will be seeing jason boland's acoustic show at the wormy dog saloon, followed by tomorrow's "margarita friday" celebration and the flaming lips (see below). naturally, reviews and pics to follow.