Imagine biting into a crisp apple and tasting not just the fruit inside, but seeing bright crimson before your eyes. Or think about listening to a violin solo and envisioning golden auras. For those with synesthesia, you often experience one of your senses through another. But is it a superpower? Or a challenge? A mere inconvenience? It’s hard to say.
Synesthesia isn’t just a quirky trait. The most common types of synesthesia are grapheme-color synesthesia, where letters and numbers appear in color or are visualized as colored, and colored hearing, where sounds, music or voices are seen as colors (also known as day–color). While some may not think of it as rare, studies suggest that at least 4% of people worldwide experience it. Depending on the form of synesthesia, that number may be higher. However, experts estimate that certain forms — especially time-space synesthesia — may affect as many as one in eight people.
For musicians, writers and your favorite artists, synesthesia is often linked to heightened levels of creativity and artistry — a secret weapon. It’s not a surprise that some of the most creative minds like Pharrell Williams or Bea Miller have said their synesthetic perceptions have shaped their work. Williams has described how he perceives music as a “gift” that allows him to create, albeit through songwriting or production. Meanwhile, Miller sees different colors when she sees certain sounds; her synesthesia influenced her sophomore album, Aurora, which was split into three colored-themed chapters: “Chapter One: Blue,” “Chapter Two: Red” and “Chapter Three: Yellow.”
Those who experience synesthesia often describe their sensory experiences in a way that a song may manifest as a swirl of blues and greens or a name may radiate a warm or cool hue. Billy Joel sees rhythms in terms of colors, with blue and green for soft and slow rhythms, and orange, red or gold for strong rhythms. Synesthetes may use their ability to experience sounds visually to create color schemes that evoke certain emotions in their audience.
Certain forms of synesthesia not only change the way people perceive the world, but they can also be practical, improving memory or making it easier to learn new languages. For some synesthetes, they see an increase in sensory memory regarding grammar and vocabulary, all because they are anchored in a palette of colors or sensations. Language learning also contributes to children’s development, helping them to learn, read and grow. Synesthesia ultimately challenges us to think more creatively, as teachers and researchers have used it to enrich the classroom, assisting them in between ideas.
But it can also be a double-edged sword, and this “superpower” can come at a great cost. Always experiencing multiple senses at once can be exhausting and overwhelming, particularly in noisy or visually chaotic environments, regardless of all the great things it provides you with. Just think about walking into a loud shopping mall where every sound makes you think of different colors and trying to have a simple conversation in a crowded room while shapes and hues compete for your attention.
Those with synesthesia can experience sensory overload, which can lead to feelings of anxiety or being out of touch with what’s happening. Noise, crowds or creative work could feel like an overload to people like Williams, requiring him to find balance, according to the 2024 film “Piece by Piece” which explores his life.
Despite its challenges and the fact that it’s not technically a superpower, synesthesia plays as if you’re experiencing a richer sense of life because you’re blending multiple senses together. Some see it as a mental disorder, but musicians all around the world use it as a tool to fuel creativity, spark innovation and make some of the most iconic music to date. Synesthesia lets you blend senses and give people a more poetic outlook. It can be a way to see the world in a new and beautiful way, and it can also be a way to connect with other people who share your unique experience.
