Time-Space Church Home

Well, they finally found a name for what's wrong with me:
Time-Space Synesthesia 

I stumbled upon an online forum the other day where the discussion centered around amazing memory. There were people who can remember every single telephone number they've ever read. One lady said she remembers which geographical direction she was facing for every single memory in her head. The conversation shifted from 'what' you remember to 'how' you remember it. That's what sparked my interest the most.

Some people said something along the lines of, "I just do," but there were a few who claimed to actually 'see' these things in their head, almost like a projection in front of them. Someone suggested they look up synesthesia. I googled it and my jaw dropped.

There are many different types of synesthesia, but they can all be summed up as, "screwed up senses." Some people see numbers in color even if they're black and white on the page. Others can taste sounds. A car horn may trigger the taste of peppermint in their mouth. But there are some who can 'see' time.

If I ask you to think about a bald eagle, what pops in your head? Probably a bald eagle. If I ask you to describe it to me, you'd probably start seeing the feathers and its beak or something. Now, think about June 11, 1993. What do you see? Probably nothing. I see a calendar in front of me. Not a wall calendar, but a very expansive calendar projected in front of me in a semi circle going around me.

I see 2013 in the center, 2012 to the left, and 2014 to my right. I can scroll the calendar left to right at will and I can zoom in on each year in much the same way that you would zoom in on a google map. 1993--June--11th. I was in the fifth grade, it was hot, and my teacher had an attitude that day. The girl that I liked smiled at me a few times, which threw me off because we argued the day before after I told her to "give me a chance." My mother and I went to see Jurassic Park at Union Station. It was opening day, we were late for the 5:05 show and ended up sitting apart. I sat in the 3rd row from the front on the right hand side of the theater three seats from the wall. She was one row ahead two seats over. The theater was freezing and I had goosebumps on my arm which I kept rubbing, wondering why they were called goosebumps.

And that's just one date. I see thousands of dates in the same way. They're just...there...in my head. I recall them just as you would recall your phone number or your name. I 'see' them. For the longest time, I assumed everyone was like this. It only takes a few arguments with your girlfriend or spouse to realize that your memory is not only different, but irrelevant to someone who thinks they're right. LOL

Well, that's apparently called time-space synesthesia and there are several studies that are trying to link it to eidetic memory. This may not be very interesting to most of you, but I feel like I just found a church home or something.