The color of sound
+What’s the color of my voice then?
- Right now it’s a purplish-brown.
+So I must sound really weird.
-No, not weird. Just that color.
Over the holiday weekend I had a few adventures with a bunch of friends. More details to come on that, but very briefly: we climbed, rappelled, hiked, and/or swam through Mystery Canyon, Kanarra Creek, and Pine Creek.
The last canyon we did seems to enjoy leaving me with a memento.
Pine Creek. Oh, you dastardly canyon.
Last time PC and I met up, I scraped up a knuckle on my right hand so hard against some sandstone that I ended up with a scar. This time I thought I was getting out without a scratch after I got out of the canyon safely. I apparently forgot the boulder field. That usually takes up a big portion of the time we allot for doing Pine Creek. However, we were in a hurry, so we were moving fast. (I was still trying my best to be careful.) I traversed most of it pretty well, and then CRASH. I ran head first into a knot on a low-hanging branch.
I guess Jon was feeling left out, so he went and did the same thing about 100 yards later. So we both ended up with tender heads for the rest of our hike. And we both got some nice bruising and some puffiness. But where Jon’s head was much better after a couple of days, mine still hurt like mad. And apparently I got an awesome bonus present from Pine Creek. I looked it up, and it is called synesthesia.
Last night I couldn’t sleep because I kept seeing patterns and shapes. So I got up and sketched some of them out, thinking they were ideas for paintings. (They still may be.) Then I laid back down, and closed my eyes, thinking that sleep would come. Still no deal. Instead, the humming of the fan, the occasional bird chirp outside, the AC turning on. . . every sound I heard was creating colors and shapes in my head.
When I saw Jon today on his lunch break and told him about it, he had to know what his voice looked like to me. Since then, I have taken note of several other sound/color combinations. They seem to be pretty consistent. Droning or deep sounds have darker colors. Squeaks or pops have lighter tones and some even look illuminted.
Maybe this a sign that I should seek medical aid. I’m not sure, so I’ll ride this out for a bit. If in a couple of days I’m still seeing sounds, I’ll seek professional help.
In the meantime, I see a children’s book in the works.
That is awesome! There was a famous painter I studied in one of my art classes a few years ago who had this phenomenon. Wish I could remember who it was… maybe you know? I know he lived in France at one point, of course- they all did right?! Anyway, aside from being rather annoying since you lose out on sleep, it sounds like it could start some interesting new adventures for you. Let us know the turn out :) and sorry about your head!
I’ll keep ya posted on how things go. In the meantime, here is a link you can check out: synaesthesia and art.
That’s a little different! I hope you are drawing it and all that. And I want to see what it looks like too! Hope to see you soon friend.
I have been drawing, taking notes, and jotting down what I see and what associations I’ve been making with the colors and patterns. It has been quite interesting. I have notes and sketches scattered in a couple of different notebooks, and I started painting 3 canvases today. :)
ooh, i have some mixed emotions about that…on one hand i am very sorry that your head hurts :-( and you cannot sleep, but on the other hand there it is – that silver lining – you got your artistic grove on ~~~i think the french fauves had that going on, they were painting wild colors;