Synesthesia: A Window into the Subjective Nature of Reality

As someone who experiences synesthesia, the world reveals itself to me as a vibrant tapestry of interconnected senses. This has always been my reality, and I didn't realize it was any different from others until I started sharing my experiences and received confused looks. As a child, I began to understand that not everyone perceived the world the same way. Eventually, I grew fearful of sharing, as I faced backlash from classmates and even adults who labeled me a liar or a freak. These reactions sparked my curiosity, leading me to explore books on auras, ghosts, cryptids, psychics, telepathy, and other fringe paranormal subjects in an effort to make sense of my experiences.

As I grew older, I found myself drawn to certain forms of art, poetry, and music that resonated with my inner experiences, discovering concepts like cymatics, chakras, metaphysics, music theory, theosophy, and sacred geometry. It became clear that my experiences weren’t entirely unique; others were perceiving reality in similar ways, even though I still didn’t have a name for it.

In 2009, I experianced a hypersensitivity to sound, along with light sensitive aura migraines, inability to sleep, and a bout of temporary optic neuritis in one eye, I was finally diagnosed with synesthesia by a neurologist. For me, sounds aren’t just sounds; they evoke colors and shapes, adding layers of depth and meaning to my perception of reality.

While synesthesia might seem like an anomaly, it offers insight into the subjective nature of consciousness and challenges the notion that we all experience the world in the same way. As neuroscientist Anil Seth explains, consciousness encompasses everything we experience, from our visual perceptions to our emotional responses. It’s the fundamental awareness of "what it is like" to be—and for a synesthete like me, this "what it is like" is inherently multimodal. My synesthesia has given me insight on how the brain constructs and shapes our unique perspectives of reality.

Just as color blindness reveals that color perception isn’t solely determined by light wavelengths, synesthesia demonstrates that sensory experiences are fluid interpretations shaped by our neural wiring. Our conscious experiences—of the world around us and of ourselves—are like controlled hallucinations shaped by our bodies and how we process sensory data.

My art is informed by my synesthesia, attempts to capture these mystical experiances, while also exploring what it means to be human. Through a fusion of colors, shapes, and patterns, I translate the invisible architecture of my consciousness into a visual language, inviting others to explore their own perceptions and appreciate the diversity of human experience. This is why my art is often called psychedelic.

Psychedelics can temporarily induce forms of synesthesia, offering anyone a glimpse into a numinous experience that transcends the ordinary and highlights that our perception of reality isn’t the only possibility. These experiences often prompt deeper questions about consciousness, perception, and reality. When our sensory experiences intertwine, we naturally search for symbolic or spiritual meanings, as our brains try to make sense of everything by finding patterns and connections.

Synesthesia, while fascinating on its own, serves as a powerful example of the broader spectrum of consciousness, nuerodiversity and its subjective nature. By acknowledging the diversity of perceptual experiences, we cultivate empathy, appreciate human variation, and open ourselves to a more expansive understanding of what it means to be conscious in a universe of endless possibilities.