SYNESTHESIA
Have you heard of synesthesia? I was an adult when I discovered I had it. Then I found out my sister had it too! We never knew we experienced life differently than others.
What is synesthesia? It’s mysterious and difficult to explain. To make things more complicated, each synesthete has a completely unique experience.
People typically experience the senses of sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing separately. People with synesthesia experience two or more of those senses simultaneously.
For example, when a synesthete takes a sip of coffee, they may taste the coffee and see red streaks and hear a sizzling sound. Another synesthete will take a drink of coffee, taste the color olive green, and feel tiny balls rolling down their spine.
Then add emotions and emotional triggers to the mix, and it gets very complex! So maybe taking a sip of coffee not only makes a synesthete have a combination of sensory experiences, but it could cause them to feel sad or burst out in laughter. That’s why synesthetes might love or hate a certain food or color or smell or sound in a way that doesn’t make sense to others.
A synesthete has always experienced life that way, and they can’t imagine it otherwise. I think of it as the opposite of being color blind or partially blind or hearing impaired or similar. People with those conditions have less sensory information, while synesthetes have more sensory information.
But we all live our lives the way we personally experience them. And … typically we learn from a young age not to let on that we aren’t like “everyone else.” So it’s very likely you know someone with synesthesia, but they’ve never mentioned it.
If you would like to know more about synesthesia, check out my web page on Synesthesia.
I wanted to write a story with a main character as a synesthete since I am one. In my book Granite & Gloss , my heroine, Tarina, has a few combinations of synesthesia. She would experience them constantly, but I only write about them in specific places to give a non-synesthete a glimpse of what it’s like. I hope you enjoy a peek into our world!
Do you have synesthesia? Do you know someone who does? I’d love to hear about it. :-)
LR Strong
Granite & Gloss
What is synesthesia? It’s mysterious and difficult to explain. To make things more complicated, each synesthete has a completely unique experience.
People typically experience the senses of sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing separately. People with synesthesia experience two or more of those senses simultaneously.
For example, when a synesthete takes a sip of coffee, they may taste the coffee and see red streaks and hear a sizzling sound. Another synesthete will take a drink of coffee, taste the color olive green, and feel tiny balls rolling down their spine.
Then add emotions and emotional triggers to the mix, and it gets very complex! So maybe taking a sip of coffee not only makes a synesthete have a combination of sensory experiences, but it could cause them to feel sad or burst out in laughter. That’s why synesthetes might love or hate a certain food or color or smell or sound in a way that doesn’t make sense to others.
A synesthete has always experienced life that way, and they can’t imagine it otherwise. I think of it as the opposite of being color blind or partially blind or hearing impaired or similar. People with those conditions have less sensory information, while synesthetes have more sensory information.
But we all live our lives the way we personally experience them. And … typically we learn from a young age not to let on that we aren’t like “everyone else.” So it’s very likely you know someone with synesthesia, but they’ve never mentioned it.
If you would like to know more about synesthesia, check out my web page on Synesthesia.
I wanted to write a story with a main character as a synesthete since I am one. In my book Granite & Gloss , my heroine, Tarina, has a few combinations of synesthesia. She would experience them constantly, but I only write about them in specific places to give a non-synesthete a glimpse of what it’s like. I hope you enjoy a peek into our world!
Do you have synesthesia? Do you know someone who does? I’d love to hear about it. :-)
LR Strong
Granite & Gloss
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