On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I post a picture and just a few words.
What IS it?
Basically, people with this kind of synesthesia visualize things like numbers, years in history, days of the week, months of the year.
So, for instance, when I think about the months of the year, they appear on sort of a racetrack shape in my head, and when I think of certain events, I place them at the appropriate point on the track.
(You can see my track on the top right in this photo.)
I also have a visual number line in my head that I use for math problems; mine starts at the bottom with 0 and then goes basically straight up into the air, with divisions at every multiple of 10. When I do mental math, I am always jumping around on this mental number line.
I used to think everyone visualized things in their head, and was very surprised when I learned, a while back, that that’s not the case.
(Related: I also used to think everyone sneezed in the sunshine, but as an adult, I became enlightened!)
I really can’t imagine trying to function without my mental pictures…it helps me with math, remembering my daily and weekly tasks, and remembering dates and events in history.
But to someone without this kind of synesthesia, I know this all sounds kind of crazy.
Brains are just such interesting things, aren’t they??
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So, now I’m curious. Do any of you have spatial synesthesia?
Carrie
Saturday 21st of October 2023
I have this exact same synesthesia! I see numbers, days, months and years in three dimensional space. The orientation of items to each other has always stayed the same my whole life. Incan actually go into negative numbers and my orientation is a bit different than yours. Mine has turns and hills and right angles. The number 13 actually hides behind the number 12. I hd no idea other people had this!
Kristen
Saturday 21st of October 2023
Isn't it so interesting to hear about other people's visuals?? I find it fascinating.
Brittany Casey
Wednesday 26th of May 2021
Omg yes I have this I never knew there was a name. I have so many drawings of how I see time and days and months! I haven’t drawn years yet tho! But I see days as the bottom being AM and moving up to PM and I picture my days of the week reversed (Sun, Sat, Fri, Thu, Wed, Tue, Mon) and it’s a sliding focus based on the day I’m in. Each day is a different color too.
Kristen
Thursday 27th of May 2021
Isn't it fun to learn that it's actually a thing? I felt the same way when I learned about it.
Wendy
Tuesday 16th of March 2021
I am so excited to know there are others in the world that share this with me. Since I was a child I have pictured by days of the week in a pattern or design that apparently only makes sense to me. Its kind of a semi-circle with a straight line at one end, the straight line being Saturday and Sunday, the semi circle (more oval) being Monday through Friday. I also assign genders to my letters, numbers, months and colors.
Kristen
Tuesday 16th of March 2021
Yes! It's such an automatic thing if your brain functions this way; I just thought that everyone in the world had images like this in their brain.
It's so fascinating to get a peek into how others thing, isn't it?
Patty
Sunday 22nd of November 2020
YES!! I, too, thought everyone saw numbers, days of the week, months, years as fixed patterns in space. I had no idea that not everyone is like this, and had no idea this existed until a week ago. I’ve been like this my entire life. And, btw, the patterns have never changed.
Colleen Morgan-Hobbs
Monday 2nd of November 2020
Do I???? All my life I’ve had this ability and it is a steady part of my thinking. Looking at your diagrams makes me feel silly-giddy that others think sort of like me!!! I’ve always said if I had bendable tubing I may be able to show how my day looks, time looks, lifetime, centuries, money, hours in a day, days of the week, months...and on and on! I am visual-spatial. Thanks for sharing!
Kristen
Monday 2nd of November 2020
Welcome to the club! It's quite a revelation when you figure it out. :)