Synesthesia, which means "joined sensation,” is a condition wherein information obtained through one sense creates sensations in another sense. For example, when a synesthete hears a bell they would also see colors.  Many brilliant people have had synesthesia, including:

• Physicist Richard Feynman who saw colors in his physics equations
  
• Abstract painter David Hockney who visualized the colors for his paintings when hearing music
  
• Composer Franz Liszt who pictured colors upon hearing musical notes.

The phenomenon is involuntary, consistent over a lifetime, hereditary, and fairly common. In fact, some form of synesthesia affects 1 in 200 people.  In its own particular way, synesthesia points to yet another way that the wiring of the brain can create different ways to experience life. 

Yesterday I uncovered a recent 17 minute film made last year by Carrie Shultz that tracks the experiences of three women living with synesthesia.  She is sending me a copy.  I'll let you know how it is.