Synesthesia

I never heard the word synesthesia until a few days ago. A family member told me that her son sees the days of the week and the months of the year in color. Huh? She explained that this ability had a name and that name is synesthesia.

Synestesia is a perceptual condition of mixed sensations: a stimulus in one sensory modality (e.g., hearing) involuntarily elicits a sensation/experience in another modality (e.g. vision). Likewise, perception of a form (e.g., a letter) may induce an unusual perception in the same modality (e.g. a color).

I'm sure this "condition" when experienced in a different capacity can be quite disconcerting. I am mindful that this could affect a persons life negatively. But, as it stands, my family member can see mundane things in color and I think it is fantastic. I always loved assigning a color or smell or sound to an inanimate object. I think it is amazing and I understand that some composers or visual artists have this ability.

My relative told me about a man and how synesthesia caused him to only be able to eat certain food combinations because of what he "saw" when he ate. I imagine this is annoying for the man, but I think I would absolutely love if I could "see" my food in different colors or better yet, "hear" my food.

When I was first married, not as crazy busy, I used to play certain music when I cooked certain foods. I just felt better when I was listening to this music and it got me into the mood of whatever I was cooking so, here is a small list of my favorite foods and what song I would assign to them. Feel free to make your own list. It's a lot of fun. It makes little sense at all if you think about it logically. So, go ahead and give it try! (And, remember it isn't about the words of the song, but the sounds.)

Sharp Cheeses: Ode to Joy

Eggplant Parmesan: Love Song (Ofra Haza)

Ice Cream: Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

Lemon Meringue Pie: The Wedding Samba

Chili: Yassus (Sheva)

Coffee: The Bongo Song

Hot Bread with Butter: Parla Piu Piano (Patrizio Buanne)

Iced Struesal Coffee Cake: Pictures (Sia)

Pumpkin Pie: Stonecircle (Alchemy)

Cheeseburger: Feeling Alright

This is a teeny tiny list. I love to eat so this list had the potential of going on and on. I probably would have been better off listing foods I disliked and their "song". Raw clams, for example, brings to mind the sound of some one gurgling. Ick! Better to stick with the foods I love.