I have synesthesia AMA

[ShinyWorthKeeping]

I have synesthesia.

The way I experience it is, when I see a person I see them as colours, usually blocks of colours sometimes with lines running through. Only twice have I seen 'swirly' colours.

I also can see names, these aren't blocks of colours, these tend to be 'things' very rarely I can smell a name too!

I understand lots of people won't want to out themselves with photos and names but I'm happy to do celebs or if anyone wants to name change etc I'll read your colours or names/baby names or answer any questions.

I'm pregnant and feeling rough and have my 7 month old here with me but I'll be back and forth here today.

AMA

@BananaSquash my months are each a large white square underneath me.

Sue is my mums name, you're a beautiful cream coloured pot fridge magnet!

Trump is half red and half brown with some white splotches on the brown side. (Half of me is brown - thankfully a different brown!)

I don't think I have it, as I only get sensory crossover with some foods. Coriander is bad squeaky, spinach is good squeaky, blueberries are furry etc. Some things all taste the same despite being completely different, like broad beans and goats cheese, so presumably there is a chemical I can detect in both.

It is fascinating. I would have expected it to be genetic, so surprised that no one in your family experiences it. Did your parents or siblings have any inkling when you were growing up that you were processing sensory information differently?

Maybe you have some varient of synaesthesia? I'm not sure.

To be honest I am very different to all of my family, a bit of a black sheep. They're not very open to anything a bit different, a bit eye-rolly etc, they don't know I have it because they wouldn't believe in it.

I love this thread. I had Alice in Wonderland syndrome as a child but only heard of it a few years ago - just thought my eyes were wrong! This also came with a taste for me.

Don't want to hog your time but could I ask about family names please? Leigh, Max, Ellis, Ricky (was Rowena), Jayjay and Ava.

Sorry to be greedy - happy to pick an Angel card for you in return.

@MantleStatue

Eating brown food 'in your mind's eye' is equivalent to eating 💩💩

Some food taste colours are happy colours (such as strawberries and cherries which taste yellow to me), and eating other colours, such as blue food (not blue in colour, they just tastes blue) can feel wrong.

It's great that you're picking up useful info from this thread. You DC are fortunate to have you, and that you're open to learning.

I've just googled Alice in wonderland syndrome and this is very familiar!

And of course!
Ellis= very vibrant prange jelly
Max= a large wooden paddle
Leigh= a yellow ice lolly (rectangular one)1
Ricky=gravel
Rowena= an enormous regal bird, possibly an Eagle (I don't know different birds!) But huge and like metal coloured with a big chunky necklace thing with purple stones in it.
Jayjay= blue and yellow beach shorts.
Ava= a little dollop of purple glitter glue.

And I would love an angel card please

I've just had a little convo with Ds1 (but not much because he gets self conscious) and he said 2024 was beige. 2025 is rich navy blue and 2026 is yellow. He did tell me before Christmas he was looking forward to 2025 because it was navy blue (his favourite colour). That's when i first started asking him questions because it felt like such an odd thing to say.

He also said just now- 'But 2025 is navy blue for everyone, right?'.

I asked him if food tastes like colours. He was a bit confused and i mentioned cherries and he said' Oh, cherries are pink'.

That's as far as i got for today... he's on a real downer at the moment about being ND because he is struggling a little at school etc. So i have to be really sensitive how i talk about it.

I'm rather envious tbh!

Thank you @ShinyWorthKeeping some very insightful and strange pictures!

The angel card that literally jumped out of the pack was "Power". The feelings I had when I held this card is that this gift you have can be used in a positive way, rather than negative (as some with it may feel). It will allow you to express yourself more, it is a safe tool for you to use and that you use it with love. Are you able to share this gift to help others?

The "blurb" in the meaning says ....
You have all the power of your Creator within you. All the power of divine love, wisdom and intelligence is available to you. You have the spiritual power to see angels and the future. You have intellectual power to tap into the universal wisdom of the One Mind. You have emotional power to empathise with others, and physical power that is truly unlimited.

The angels ask you to give them any fears you may have connected to being a powerful person. They see see a quiet and beautiful aspect of your true power, stemming from the only power in the universe. Divine love. Allow yourself to shine with this radiant love so that your true power can radiate out into the world in miraculous ways".

From the blurb I feel that you maybe keep this gift to yourself and only share with those close to you, but there may be a reason you have it, can it help others who need to grow? Have you sought a meaning to this or do you feel that its just something you have, a different wiring in the brain you were born with? Are you spiritual or scientific? Worth asking yourself those questions..... if you are spiritual, it may be worth a visit or two to a spiritualist church to see what comes through?

I hope that's OK for you - not too woo if you don't believe LOL. I am not religious at all but think we are all given a gift for a reason, we just need to find the answer ourselves.

Sorry, I forgot to ask about John!

I’m the same, only got it with days of the week and to some extent months. Sunday is dark blue to me. There’s definitely a link with emotions so Friday is bright yellow for example.

2025 is also.navy for me, so feel free to tell him!

I definitely have synaesthesia with colours, though probably less vivid than when I was younger. On the Mind's Eye thread someone linked to spatial synaesthesia with the year in months in a circle around the person - this is exactly what I see, climbing up a cycle on an angle as we go around the year.

I also see numbers and letters in colours, like the pp upthread mine was influenced by the Fisher Price magnetic letters and numbers, but not exactly the same. As a child I also saw vivid, coloured pictures for names and words pre being able to read - but now would see the word itself. I'm not ND but am very visual and as a child was quite a daydreamer. It's a fascinating subject.

I have it too. I associate letters with colours. People's names and the names of cities and countries and other proper nouns all have a colour in my mind, based on the salient letters in the spelling. There were names I discounted for my children just because of colour preference.

Wow this was lovely and very in depth! Thank you so much.

I've actually been considering painting and selling what colours people appear to me but I was unsure if anyone would be interested in it really, could this be what it means to share it?
I'm definitely not scientific and I'm pretty much open to anything, I love a bit of woo!

And John is a sturdy stone wall that's been stood forever, what you might see in a village with moss/leaves etc growing all over it.

I would definitely share the gift - people find a lot of support and love for things made especially for them. Give it a go - you may never know unless you try.

John sounds exactly as he is! Perfect.

Thank you, a lot more people were interested in the thread than I imagined so maybe people would like to see!

This vs is the most fascinating thread I've read on here! I am quite envious.

What does Karen look like?

Thank you! Karen is like one of those satisfying videos you see in compilations on tiktok or something. It's a knife or scissors cutting through a thick paintbrush.

This is absolutely fascinating, thank you for sharing. I’d love to know what you see for ‘Gemma’ and would that differ to what you see for ‘Gem’?

Gemma is a little thin carrot with loads of fluffy green on top, Gem is one of those lollipops that looks like crystals stuck together, a dark green one.

I have this too OP! Mine has weakened as I've got older though. Like a PP, when I was a child, I assumed everybody thought like this! I often see things in grid like forms too. Some words kind of feel three dimensional too. It's hard to explain.

@Teaformenow My Sunday is dark blue and my Friday is light yellow!

Thanks everyone for joining my thread, it was so interesting to learn about others with similar synesthesia, to find out I'm more likely ND than I originally thought, and for all the questions and interest.

I'm so glad so many people seemed to enjoy reading and that the thread even led to a conversation between other posters that helped a poster to understand their DC better.

This is really interesting, thank you ShinyWorthKeeping Think I have some form of synesthesia in that I see patterns and colours when I close my eyes? Have a good visual memory in that can revisit houses and places in my head and make myself feel I'm in warm sunlight on a cold day (even if my lips go blue). I'm Bridget, what colour do you think I could be?

I have found this absolutely fascinating!
Could you please describe
Katie
Selina
Lucy