Celebrities Who Have Synesthesia

And how it helps shape their creative process

Photo by Josh Riemer on Unsplash

Today is orange. No, not outside in the afternoon sun, but inside my head. Because it’s Wednesday.

I have synesthesia. This happens when two senses get their wires crossed inside the brain and trigger each other. For example:

• Music or sound triggers colors (chromesthesia)
• Numbers have genders (ordinal-linguistic personification)
• Letters have colors (grapheme-color)
• Spoken words are visualized (ticker tape)

There are more than 80 general types of synesthesia. I have four. Some people have just one; others a dozen.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, it’s estimated that just 2–4% of the global population have this condition.

I’m so blessed to be one of those people. My senses are always alive, and perceiving things that others don’t. For example, when I listen to music, I can see it. And, each genre of music has its own colors, shapes, and textures. This has been consistent for as long as I can remember.