Thursday, July 25, 2013

Do You Have Synesthesia?

As AMAZING as it was to view
Sharon Schamber's quilts during 
the trunk show/ lecture last Saturday,
I was equally intrigued to listen to her
speak about aspects of her life.
 As quilts were being held up for display, Sharon  began the lecture
by telling us about her
"4 conditions"
that have provided many personal challenges.
Yesterday I told you about  her
Hyper Focus
 Another occurrence that has had great impact upon Sharon's life
is a neurological condition called
 Synesthesia is a condition in which "the stimulus of one sensory
leads to an automatic or involuntary experience 
in a second sensory."
For many people a number is just a number on a page.
But for people with synesthesia, they might automatically
experience a number also as a color, smell or sound.
 A common form is called Color Synesthesia
where letters or numbers are perceived as
inherently colored.
 This was a new concept to me!
But, as Sharon explained her condition,
immediately the woman sitting across from me
stated in a matter of fact way
 "Oh yes.  The number 5 is green."
 As with all conditions, there are many spectrums,
and Sharon felt most quilters experience
Synesthesia even if only on a small scale. 
 She asked 
"Do you have a certain color that you just love? Or
do you have a color that you just don't like at all?"
 All colors have vibrations
and often influence our emotions.
 So I ask you,
do you have 
Synesthesia?
 I came home and talked to Mr. Cactus about what I had learned.
 We looked up the definition in Wikipedia 
 There is a number form of Synesthesia
where numbers, months of the years, or days of the week
have a location in space
or a 3-Dementional view.
For example, the date 1980 might look
"farther away" than 1990.
 As we read the definitions, Mr. Cactus looked at me and said
"Of course.  A calendar year is a circle that goes counter clockwise
with higher points like January 1st. And then as you zoom in on a number
the patterns zig zag and have angles."
 I looked at him stunned.
We have been married for quite a long time,
and I knew he was very good with numbers.
But, I did not realize that we "saw" them differently.
For me a number looks just like a flat black one dimensional 3 or 4 on a page.
As an artist, Sharon Schamber's Synesthesia greatly 
contributes in her creative ability when making quilts.
Many great artists talk of their Synesthesia.
See Wikipedia list HERE
Did you know that when John Mayer
 hears music he sees colors?

5 comments:

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I'm with you Nedra - my numbers are flat and do not have color :)

Cindy said...

Oh I am suddenly feeling very boring. My numbers are flat, colors don't really speak to me (I can be talked into liking just about any color given the right situation). And I really don't know what 'style' I am (mostly out of). But....I do know a good brownie recipe when I see it. So life is still pretty good.

Glenna @ Hollyhock Quilts said...

So interesting! Sadly I have neither one of those conditions. Might explain a few of my shortcomings! :o)

Material Mary said...

Best to my knowledge, I am just plain old boring with numbers...no synthothesia...interesting.
Mary

Mayleen said...

My dh and I had quite a discussion about this. He thinks numbers start with 0 on the bottom of the clock ??? I think months are like the clock beginning with January at the 1 o'clock position, but July is at 6 o'clock? In any case, it was an interesting discussion!