I see time as a grid in my mind. I remember the birthdays of friends I haven’t seen for 65 years
Judy Stokes, a retired GP, shares her experience as a spatial-sequence synaesthete
TL;DR
- Judy Stokes has spatial-sequence synaesthesia, perceiving time and dates as a mental grid.
- Public holidays and events are pre-imprinted in this mental calendar, extending far into the past and future.
- She also experiences grapheme-colour synaesthesia, associating colors with certain words.
- This condition aids her memory for dates, even from decades ago, and helps with mathematical calculations.
- While useful for trivia, modern digital reminders have reduced its everyday planning benefits.
- Stokes finds her synaesthesia fascinating and is curious about how others' brains work.