The last time I saw in technicolor was when I went to music camp. I have always perceived notes as colors, when they are sharp they vibrate, flat they dim, and just right they make a rainbow. Sadly this doesn’t translate to being able to produce beautiful music. Once I gave up my instrument the world went back to shades of grey.
Chatting with a friend whose life is music I learned that color associations with words, letter and notes have a name…and a Wikipedia page. Synesthesia fascinates me, perhaps because I have the most mild useless form of it. Whether you see the letter A as red, or the note C as brown or simply see color in the sky we all have strong associations with color.
I have always loved yellow. I like it bold, yet without the tinge of orange that you find on a school bus. It wakes me up more than coffee, makes me want to walk through front doors and generally move forward. It demands my attention and I give it. Back before I learned that I could only have Pinterest Boards that promote my blog-Blech- I had a board called “yellow not so mellow” I looked at it almost every afternoon at 2. Now I use Pinterest as a tool, not a toy so you only see yellow on my board covers.
My cousin is obsessed with Indigo. He likes the process by which it is made, but even more he likes the layers of depth that he sees. He wears a cape-like lab coat thing that would make me look like an oompa loopa. Each morning he arrives with the tail swinging and takes his seat to write about imaginary lands. Stuck as I am in the personal narrative I simply see it as blue. To Jasper it is a manifestation of all possibilities in a single color.
My older son like the monochrome look. He pairs blue on blue green on green, you understand. What he can’t see is shades of color so even though it is impossible he has actually made blue clash. One day he hurried into the room holding my laptop, his face as red as his T shirt and short. “My mind is BLOWN.” He tells me. Or screams at me. When he turned the screen to me to reveal youtube I expected to be lulled to sleep by a video of a pre-teen opening a pack of Pokemon cards. Instead he showed me this. He watched it again and looked up at me. Did you have ANY idea that we respond to color that way? Why yes. Yes I did. But it was thrilling to watch him learn. Sitting on my blue comforter looking at his red outfit I felt an excited contentment the red and blue of those emotions swirling together into a sort of purple. The colors are still in there. Instead of music I see them in the moods of my boys. Whether sharp or flat they light up my life.
I thought I was going to be reading about how delicious Skittles are! I feel like I was robbed!
I’m so sorry. I will write about Peanut butter cups on Mother’s day because that is all I will be eating.
I’ll be tuning in I’m the professor emeritus of PB University!
This post made me think of the little things around us: colors, sounds, smells, and how we can make a conscious decision to acknowledge and appreciate them, or hurry past them in a frenzy.
Beautifully put.
Synesthesia- I learn something new everytime I read your blog.
I love all shades of the color green.
So many great associations with green. Unless you are Kermit 😉
Such a visual post and I’ve never thought of color that way. I think of color as living here up north in black-and-white and when I land down south it’s like landing in Oz – all beautiful, vibrant colors. Lovely post, Anna.
So location changes it. I think it may be that way for me. Places have different intensities of color. And I don’t think it just tracks with sunshine.
I think if I were to compare myself to a color I would be bright yellow and/or neon green! haha!
Or hot pink…
Ah ha! I will take it! 😉
I have to have lots of color in my life. Everything from the kitchen counter top to the towels I dry off with must have vibrant colors in them or I just feel off.
I do love those counters.
I love color and yellow is my favorite too (my living room is painted yellow.) And I understand how color affects people, but I’m actually surprised by the percentages. But, I never let my Color Inspiration board go on Pinterest. It’s ok to have to “personal” boards up with the blog boards.
I know…I wish I had stayed a little more true to myself on that pinning place. My parenting board bores me.
My fave colour is green but yellow makes me feel happy too! Fashion wise, going on a night out red/coral/orange are my colours of choice – confidence boosters; blues relax me….
So interesting – I never knew this either. I honestly never paid much attention to color, but can absolutely see how this could be the case!
How interesting! & I have had so many arguments about the fact that shades of one colour CAN clash with each other. Like Gary, I was somewhat expecting skittles to be involved, but this was more interesting than skittles.
Can anything really be more interesting than skittles?
What a wonderful way to think of your kids!!