A New Journey

Synesthesia is a phenomenon that has always fascinated me, from the time that I first experienced it in early childhood to the time when I learned that there was a word for it until now. Essentially, synesthesia is a sensation of experiencing sensory excitation through senses other than the one that is expected. Some people may "see" sounds, or "taste" words--one might experience an auditory stimulus on a physical level that can almost be described as pain, like the "nails on a chalkboard" phenomenon. While studies report that anywhere from one in 300 to one in 2,000 people may experience some form of synesthesia, I've known too many people who recoiled at certain sounds or gag at the word "moist" to believe the phenomenon is that uncommon, even if some people may experience it much more distinctly than others.

I've tried on several occasions to keep up a blog. I'm a person who thinks a lot, and feels an innate desire to express my thoughts with the written word. I've often exercised this need through social media bursts, and while that can be cathartic, it never feels productive, and yet in the past I've not been successful at sticking with longer-form writing either. Recently though, I've felt like I had a lot more to say and needed a more organized way of saying it, and so here we are. Past attempts never felt natural to me--I often was trying to write about trendy topics, or using a writing voice that, while mine, still felt like I was emulating someone else's style or trying too hard to maintain an ironic detachment rather than just letting my own style shine through. Essentially I was writing for the audience I thought I wanted to draw rather than writing for myself. I chose names that ran the gamut from clunky and dry to obnoxious and corny. My most recent incarnation took the name "Spinesthesia," a play on "spin" (I fancied myself a music journalist, so like "spinning" a record) and "synesthesia" that, when put together, ends up looking more like some kind of back operation. This time I decided to keep with that theme but be more straightforward with the name to reflect two ideas: my more straightforward and authentic approach to my writing process, and the fact that I intend to use this platform to discuss a wider variety of topics that may excite more than one sense, at least for me. While that blog and its original posts remain mostly intact and you can find them if you want to, I started a new one to put an intentional physical distance between it and my new aesthetic.

I have more than a passing interest in a variety of topics, like most people: music, history, current events, travel, nature, comics, comedy, food, and sports, and I hope to be able to touch on a lot of that here as the whim strikes me. Additionally, this comes at a transitional time in my professional life, as I am departing my job as a high school paraprofessional for a business ownership opportunity in the insurance world, so this will also serve as a way of exercising my desire to continue imparting knowledge on anyone willing to hear it. I can't say that I won't ever be opinionated in my writings, but I hope to always contextualize my opinions with the facts that formed them and lead readers to draw their own conclusions based on the information available. The last thing I want is to come across as an armchair pundit.

I hope you will come along with me on this journey and that you will enjoy my perspectives. I hope I'm able to teach people and that maybe people can share their perspectives back with me and teach me as well. Hope to see you on my journey!