Comments on: How I visualize the months of the year

By: lesnzeb

lesnzeb — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:00:17 +0000

I am taking psychology as a biological science and we were introduced to synesthesia today. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing! I have always thought that everyone did this, but I apparently have calander synesthesia. My calendar is more pear-shaped with the summer months at the bottom. As I move through the year, the days are laid out like a sidewalk and zig-zag back and forth. I do something very similar with regular numbers and counting. I have always struggled in math and, while discussing this with my husband this afternoon, have begun to think this may be part of why I struggle in the comprehension of many math concepts. Anyone know how common this is or how many people actually have this condition?

By: tth

tth — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 15:57:23 +0000

I see months of the year laid out in a flattened circle moving clockwise. January starts at about 4 o’clock going around to December at 3 o’clock. Until a few years ago, I thought everyone saw the year this way.

By: Ree

Ree — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 16:17:53 +0000

I just stumbled onto this blog, and I’m so glad I did. Until a couple years ago, I thought everyone visualized the months the way I did. Then I found out I am, as my kids put it, “weird.”

My visualization is like three/fourths of an oval track. The clearest parts are the 2 months directly in front of me (I assume I’m “in” the month that is current). The next ones are in the loop of the oval and are a bit more faded out, a little dimmer. Example: this is the end of October, and I “see” November right in front of me, then December, and January is dimmer and at the top of the loop. February starts the downward part of the “track” and then so on, getting dimmer and less distinct until about May or June when that part of the “track” has faded off into a greyish nothing. As the year progresses, those months and the ones after move up, as if they were rotating. The oval doesn’t change, but the months move on it coming toward me. I never see the other end of the track, the other loop, though there’s an awareness that it’s there. I can’t see the months that have just passed either.

I also “see” the days of the week this way. And I have discalculia, a learning disability with numbers and time concepts. I transpose numbers (my checkbook register is a horrible mess!), can’t visualize anything that’s described with numbers, such as 3 feet, 19 inches, ten yards, etc., totally suck at math, have trouble with analog clocks, and am late for nearly everything because I can’t accurately judge how much time passes. Also can’t recall names of people, songs, movies, books, but I can recite entire plots, sing whole songs without a problem.

I don’t know if the calendar visualization connects to the discalculia or not, but it sure is good to know I’m not the only one with this visualization thing!

By: Ruth

Ruth — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:33:03 +0000

I see a year as an open circle, at a slight angle. The months move counter-clockwise (I’m a lefty too). I view the circle from the ‘bottom’ or fall position. Right now we’re in the end of summer/beginning of fall, so I can see that August is on my left, rust colored, and has almost no energy. As we approach September the energy increases and the color changes to a brighter wheat/yellow hue. The circle is three-dimensional. December and January are in a darkish, bottom right hand corner (if a circle had a corner), and they have a primitive feel. I’ve always thought of the year this way – it’s nice to meet others of my kind! I also see a week as an oval moving clockwise…and getting darker as the days progress. Weeks are 2-D and viewed from above. Strange that I’m never actually IN the shapes.

By: Fran

Fran — Mon, 31 May 2010 18:20:21 +0000

Hi, this is really interesting because for as long as I can remember I’ve been able to see days in my mind… 3D and black and white, each day is a partitioned segment, unlike yours which seems to be months partitioned. From what I see of this image, your year is circular, whereas mine is linear. I cant see the present day, and I see ‘behind’ me the days that have passed and the further the future is the smaller and further away I ‘see’ it.
I actually have a really bad memory so I don’t know if this concept of time is useful at all… I know that if you asked me ‘what are you doing on saturday?’ I would ‘see’ the weekend (slightly darker than the rest of the week) and have a feeling about it if there was something happening… but couldnt necessarily tell you what it was.
Reading your entry, its very interesting to see that you have something similar.
fran

By: Sarah R

Sarah R — Tue, 25 May 2010 17:56:47 +0000

OMG, Kitty. You and I have the same calendar!! It’s counterclockwise. When someone says a date, it has a specific spot on the calender. The middle is hollow on mine, too. The months go with the circle rather than outward. I never knew there was a name for “this” and I have had the calendar in my head for as long as I can remember. I thought everyone had this! I can also memorize numbers (phone numbers, people’s employee numbers; birthdays) without having to try.

By: filosofo

filosofo — Sun, 16 May 2010 04:31:39 +0000

I thought of this when reading the following passage from Fred Brooks’ essay, “‘No Silver Bullet’ Refired”:

I have long enjoyed asking candidate programmers, “Where is next November?” If the question is too cryptic, then, “Tell me about your mental model of the calendar.” The really good programmers have strong spatial senses; they usually have geometric models of time; and they quite often understand the first question without elaboration.

By: A Look at the “Mental Calendar” | The Daily Grid

A Look at the “Mental Calendar” | The Daily Grid — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:41:04 +0000

[...] his article: When I think of “now” in a month-to-month sense, I visualize myself as standing on the [...]

By: kristael

kristael — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:25:39 +0000

This is so great that I found this. I’ve thought about this a lot but have never brought it up to anyone until last night. I had asked my boyfriend how he visualized it. At first he was confused when I said that I pictured the months in different spaces, but then I got a little out of him. Mine is almost the same as yours only flipped. Mine goes counterclockwise for some reason. I am a lefty and I wondered if that had anything to with it, but my boyfriend is right handed and his goes counter clockwise as well. Jan, Feb, March, April and May at the top going to the left. May is maybe on the top left corner then down is June July Aug and Sept would be the bottom left corner. Along the bottom is Oct Nov and Dec. I’m not sure how Dec and Jan meet up, warping must be the only answer, haha. I just wonder what differs in each person that makes them see this differently.

By: Bryn

Bryn — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:13:36 +0000

Dustin, this is how I’ve always visualized the calendar, too!

By: Tammy

Tammy — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:37:32 +0000

Working with my son who was forgetting August. We raced around the track me with mouse him by reading over and over. When I asked how he remembered, he remembers the corners, August on the corner.
Thank you..

By: rhea

rhea — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:46:41 +0000

i just found this while researching synesthesia.. i’ve been doing this for all my life

I see the whole year in a square shape each month following the other on this shape like on a big ribbon and i usually, depending on the month i’m thinking about, find myself in a certain position to it.

for example when i think of january december is to the left while november, october and september are one over the other over december to the left, august, july and june are straight ahead and may april follow under june to my right. to my right there is february and march and april.

this happens to all months. but depending on where i am on the calendar the other months are to my left or right or ahead or higher or lower. for example in june i look down at may and april is even lower. when i’m in december i’m in a straight angle, with november to the left and january up. the square then moves again when i’m in january. i however don’t perceive anything or any sort of special acrobatic while moving from december 31 to january 1. and so on

this all also happens counterclockwise.

i see numbers in the same way and weekdays. same with historic periods or my own life chronology (with numeric milestones or important dates creating a bend in the ribbon). i’m gonna be 30 in 2 years and i realized that while there was no more special bent or change of direction after 20 till 100 (after which the sequence goes down) there’s starting to be a segment, between 30 and 40 bending again. heh

sequential numbers are like on a ribbon from 1 to 10 in horizontal then till 20 vertical and down, then the rest horizontal. i don’t perceive any other bent after 20 and i see them all in a straight line. when i’m thinking about numbers i do however feel myself hovering (mentally of course) over this endless ribbon and in a certain relation to the numbers. i can tell which ones are bigger or smaller in relation to this arrangement in space. and there’s a bump of sorts on milestones (like 100)

however i never really thought about it so much. i did think maybe my visualizing of the year and months may be a little weird but i thought we all do that. it may also have soemthing to do with a way of spatially visualizing things from since forever. i’m an architect btw.

heh. weird shit. but i think everyone has a form of synesthesia in the end. i guess we just have to give it a name

By: jv

jv — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:00:16 +0000

Wow this is seriousle kinda flipping me out. I’ve always seen the months in the exact same ways and its been bugging me for no reason because I know not everyone saw things like this, but now its weird to know people actually see things just like you see them.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:32:42 +0000

Ooh! My visualization of the months is almost exactly like the one you referenced here. The only difference is that December completes a side by itself, which is odd because it doesn't seem any longer than June, July and August, which all make up the opposite side on the right. I also 100% agree with your visualization of "now" in a month-to-month sense (when looking at September from April, you're standing on April, facing South).

By: Cheryl V

Cheryl V — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:35:42 +0000

I see the months in a circle with the months being the color of the first letter of each month. So April is red because my A’s are red. June, July and January are green because my J’s are green.
Does anyone see the decades in a particular pattern. And if so, does this make you more aware of the passing years and a sense of how much closer you are to death?