Island Med Student

Merry Christmas everyone! I must admit that I am not terribly in the Christmas spirit today. In fact, the only proof that I have that it’s Christmas is the date on my wall calendar. It doesn’t feel like Christmas here. I don’t see any signs of Christmas. I don’t smell any Christmas food. If I was a synesthete, I might say that seeing a Christmas tree makes me smell eggnog, or that when I eat fruitcake, I hear the song Jingle Bells. An article that just appeared in Seed Magazine discussed this very phenomenon. It turns out that around one to four percent of people suffer from a form of synesthesia, which is a neurological mixing of various sensory inputs in their brain. The picture above was drawn by Marcia Smilack, an artist and synesthete who uses her synesthesia to create many forms of art.

The article goes on to describe how researchers are beginning to nail down the biological basis for synesthesia. I’ve actually experienced synesthesia a few times in my life, though I wouldn’t say that I was an actual synesthete. But I frequently see numbers when I meet someone, and can’t quite nail down the cause or attributes that lead me to see certain people as numbers. I’ve also seen beautiful images in my mind when listening to certain music, as I know many people do.

Just about everyone can say that certain smells, sounds, or sights have evoked certain feelings within them. Christmas seems to be a perfect example. Even for those people who don’t celebrate Christmas, in the States we are so immersed in the sounds and smells of Christmas. A passing waft of apple cider can cause you to hear Christmas carolers. Or watching the lighting of the national Christmas tree can cause you to hear the sound of wrapping paper crinkling.

As I sit here in Dominica, there are virtually no signs of Christmas around me. It’s 80 degrees here, and I haven’t seen any Christmas decorations. My family is thousands of miles away, and I don’t see my mother cooking Christmas dinner. I miss the smells and sounds of Christmas. I think I’m going to try and find the ingredients for some eggnog. Perhaps tasting the sweetness of the vanilla and nutmeg will cause me to see my mother cooking mashed potatoes.

I’ll leave you with this quote by Smilack,

“In our art there is something universal. If someone asked me ‘What is art?’ I would say art is patterns. In the same way that DNA is a pattern that could explain an entire species, there are patterns in nature that show up in my dreams and show up in my art. And maybe none of us are consciously aware of them.”