Picture That
I’ve always wondered how weird I am – so have a lot of other people – but I mean in a very specific way. For example, if I come across a word that isn’t spelled like it seems it should be spelled, I find myself respelling it inĀ my head, over and over again: B-R-O-C-C-O-L-I. And when I think about a particular date, either in the future or past, I tend to “picture” it, with the months running like a giant Z in my head (though I’m never sure how you get from December to January. . . ). Days of the week? A protractor, with the weekend on the straight side (really putting hump day on the hump).
When I was in high school, learning Spanish and typing at the same time, I started picturing words based on how they would be typed or what they were in Spanish. I don’t know if it helped my Spanish, but my typing sure improved.
So, here’s my question: do we all have these strange visualizations or am I just bizarre?
And did you remember what a protractor was?
Tags: OCD, visualization
I do the same thing…exactly the same thing!
I do it. I picture a “year” like the giant calendar that was hung in my second grade classroom. It was in two parts, and ran from September to February, and from March to August. Days of the week? On a ladder, laid down flat. Nope, you’re not bizarre. And yes, I remember protractors.
I memorize numbers in a series by visualizing them in patterns. Came across that idiosyncasy when I had to remember the security code on my apartment lobby door. It was so much easier to memorize the pattern than the actual numbers….and protractors – isn’t that a gynecological device used by doctors? (Only kidding, protractors were always required in school, but what for? Never remember using them.)
I do the same thing – i “see” my calendar, “see” how far down my lines are on a page in a script – we are visual beings, and also dream in pictures and symbols. And women have an open pathway between the left and right brain, between logic and creativity, so it makes perfect sense. Although, perhaps I am an unreliable source, as I am usually referred to as very weird ; )