Sensory experience

There are sounds smells textures etc that make us in many ways feel uncomfortable or they are even unbearable. But maybe there are also those which give us some pleasant experience? For me unbeatable are all high pitch sounds, squeaks, for example a tram taking turn on the rails, cars breaks, but also adhesive tape (shakes my brain) children’s screams - feeling paralysed and hyperventilating, Duplo blocks, like demolishing wall with hammers, i also hate sounds of plastic bags. But sometimes their sound is pleasant if it’s the thicker plastic. I work in a warehouse, I control the deliveries everyday. Having a can of paint in my hands, the sound of this creamy liquid inside gives me a nice sweet taste of caramel and whipped cream, when I see and touch the wood, I feel taste of nuts in my mouth, when I have small bags filled with screws I feel a green cabbage in my mouth, but the best and my favorite sound is a monotonous (low pitched) sound of working engine, such as old trams in my city, or my granny’s old Russian refrigerator. I build a Music in my head based on this monotonous sound. And it plays in my head itself as long as I sit there. Unfortunately as soon as the sound stops, the music also stops and I forget it quickly. Maybe I should learn the notes to start saving the music which plays in my head. My mom was amazed with this experience when I told her. For me also languages have tastes and smells and temperature. English is minty, cold and fresh. German is salty and crispy, Russian is a bit bitter and sweet-sour, like dark chocolate with orange or black coffee with lemon juice. I also remember shivering and having goosebumps whenever I had to touch or sit on chair covered with velvet. In a car for example. 
Anyone likes to share their sensory experience? 

  • No, it's really not, I find it disgusting and the burger van in the car park, hot dog vans and all the other salmonella trucks in almost every beauty spot.

  • The smell of frying bacon and BBO's or fish and chips, they don't smell like food!

    Surley the smell of the local chippy as you walk by has got to be the best smell ever! Yum

  • This is literally me too. I can barely tolerate touching it, let alone using it for anything. It just feels so *wrong*, not like other plastics or packing materials. I have no idea why.

  • I Miss the depth of this experience from my childhood. But I don’t miss my bullies and I’m not sure how I would have functioned right now if I have still experienced that as intensely as it was in my childhood. 

  • I break up polystyrene packaging and use it as crocks in big garden tubs. I fill them about a third full, the roots of most plants don't need loads of depth and the polystyrene keeps them light enough to move fairly easily. I agree it's a horrible noise, it makes my teeth hurt.

    I hate the sound and feel of scratching denim or any cotton really, high pitched noises from tools etc and the old dial up electrical screaming would send me running from the house. The smell of frying bacon and BBO's or fish and chips, they don't smell like food!

    I love fresh cotton sheets, velvet and fur, the smell of coffee and bread, a rose garden, the sounds and smells of a forest, kicking piles of autumn leaves, the sounds of oyster catchers and curlews and the gentle rhythmic sound of waves on the beach. The ringing silence of a really cold clear night in the countryside, it's like the afternote of a bell.

  • On one hand it is overwhelming on the other hand I feel it must be somehow boring to not taste things that are not edible or even not material such as languages, pronouncing words etc. There are words that have strong sour taste. The word “sour” in English does not btw, it’s more salty I would say.

    It sounds quite magical.

  • Maybe doing these tasks with ear protection would help? I use them at work and at home whenever I need for adhesive tape and other tasks with plastic bags. For me it’s hard to have lunch with my family without earplugs because of the noise that they make - cutlery off plates 

    It's touch too with polystyrene - I can't get near the stuff.

  • Maybe doing these tasks with ear protection would help? I use them at work and at home whenever I need for adhesive tape and other tasks with plastic bags. For me it’s hard to have lunch with my family without earplugs because of the noise that they make - cutlery off plates 

  • I honestly thought it’s normal for everyone. Only some time ago I found out this experience is called synesthesia and does not affect everyone. On one hand it is overwhelming on the other hand I feel it must be somehow boring to not taste things that are not edible or even not material such as languages, pronouncing words etc. There are words that have strong sour taste. The word “sour” in English does not btw, it’s more salty I would say. How I feel it at least 

  • I have a daughter like that. Constitutionally unable to take rubbish out, or throw empty packaging into a waste basket, for that matter.

  • I have a box of expanded polystyrene packing, from a table lamp I recently bought, sitting in the corner, taunting me to have the courage to break it up and put it in the wheely bin. It's not happened yet.

    I feel for you - it's a job I allocate to other members of my household - although my cat ignores all my instructions.

  • I have a box of expanded polystyrene packing, from a table lamp I recently bought, sitting in the corner, taunting me to have the courage to break it up and put it in the wheely bin. It's not happened yet.

  • The sound of expanded polystyrene being cut or rubbing together is horrible!

    AAAH!!!!

    exploding head

  • The sound of expanded polystyrene being cut or rubbing together is horrible!

  • Even thinking about polystyrene gives me goosebumps - literally - I have them now thinking about the stuff Scream

  • I do not have synaesthesia, but I like the hum of my electric razor, I tend to hum little tunes while shaving, a bit like playing a melody on the chanter of a bagpipe against the sound of the drones.

  • Your synesthesia is amazing AH.

    You describe it very poetically too.

  • ice cream, chocolate, supper fast paced flashy colourful music videos like this (warning flasy). ranchy music videos from the 90s/00s. Really fast intence electronic music with evokative melodies.

  • Synesthesia and dysociation made it hard for me to concentrate at school at times. It’s hard to concentrate if you smell a burned flesh (I did on literature and history classes), but math was fresh like a cold water, geography like grass biology like lemons… I had to put extra energy to somehow cut off these feelings and concentrate on the topic. Funny thing is that I was sure for years that others experience it the exact same way. And I felt like stupid and inferior when I saw that they had no issues or much less than me generally. I also got distracted at times by a fly or buzzing lamps in the classroom etc, but only if it was a subject I didn’t like. 

  • I like the smell and feel of smooth waxed wood, it's soothing. If I'm in an old building like a cathedral or a castle I love the feel of the cold stone wall feel the air trapped beneath the vast space beneath the vaulted roof. Course tree bark and the shadow and smell of the canopy, I love to be outside on a clear dark night/morning to look out to the stars, it always makes me feel small and almost child like. The weight and warmth of the morning sun before it becomes too hot.(I'm definitely a fan of a temperate climate around 16-20c)

    I'm not overly fond of florescent tube lights, they flicker and whine. Electrical things tend to make some sort of whine or buzz especially when they are at the budget end.

    The feel of things has never really bothered me but in saying that, I'm like the princess and the pea, the slightest bit of grit in my shoe, a hair on my face or a crease on sheets then I'm not a happy bunny.

    Smells have always been my issue, I have a particularly strong sense of smell and taste. Roof tar, BO are overwhelming and almost vomit inducing, other unpleasant smells can have elements within them that aren't too bad. Most people don't realise that their scents change at certain times, like if they are unwell, stressed or depressed for example. Or that women smell differently at different points of their cycle. All of this you can't mention to the as it's weird and creepy.

    Sometimes I think it won't interest to experience synesthesia but I can imagine it could be overwhelming at times.