I Smell Plaid #synesthesia

1/10/2017

Synesthesia: People with synesthesia experience some of the sensory world in a unique way. In my world, there is something out there that smells plaid.

As weird as that sounds it's the truth. This smell that often comes off people's bodies like when I'm shopping or at an event is very earthy. It is a conglomeration of odors but to my brain it is plaid. Unfortunately, I will never discover what the odor actually is because to me it is plaid and that makes no sense.

I've had it since I was a kid. The odd part was I never thought of it as odd. Just plaid. It wasn't until I got older that I was told it was synesthesia. Today I found an article about synesthesia that says it can be triggered to improve learning in complicated, rule based tasks such as reading, music theory, and time telling. To me, none of those things smells plaid. 1-5% of people have this sensory issue. Synesthesia usually develops between 6-11. I have always smelled plaid. Children who develope synesthesia are better able to memorize, categorize, and understand certain kinds of grammer. Synesthesia is a neurologically based condition where some connections in the brain are crossed.

Now that does not surprise me.

For me, plaid is involuntary and it feels good. Not only does it feel good it completely relaxes me the moment the odor tickles my nose. When I smell it my brain says plaid. I have tried to separate the lines in plaid which happen to be green, gold, red, white and brown, but can't. It is just plaid. Now, hearing blue is another matter entirely.

Most people with synesthesia are women, left handed, neurologically normal and it appears the condition is inherited. I am not left handed nor do I know of anyone else in the family who has it. In fact, it is so normal to me I don't think I've ever told anyone about my and plaid experience except that I may have blogged about it before. My plaid odor doesn't change anything about me per se, except I'd love to smell plaid more often as it gives me an entirely peaceful feel-good experience and that is something I rarely have around groups of people.

So if your kid tells you he or she is smelling ice cream don't be suprised. If you ask him or her if it feels good to smell ice cream and he or she says yes, be supportive. If he or she is pointing to his father's shoe and smelling ice cream then it's synesthesia.