Thursday, August 25, 2011

My strangeness with numbers

So apparently my profile has been viewed 67 times... Huh. Who knew?

Well...since I put a number in the previous sentence, it reminded me that I have yet to write a number post. I thought maybe I had (just checked my list of posts and drafts, and nope, no numbers...) but since I haven't, now seems like just as good a time as any to do so. So!

I have learned that I am odd with numbers. (ha ha... sorry, excuse the lame pun...) It is one of those things that I never really thought about, because to me it is so normal; I've been this way as long as I could remember. It wasn't until I started asking other people about their numbers that I realized that how I interact with mine is not the norm.
All my numbers have a color feel in my head. I don't physically see the colors, but I do know what color they are, and I realized that I feel pretty strongly about it once I started asking people what color their numbers were. Usually the conversations went something like this...

Me: "Question! What color is seven?"
Random person I had snagged for my poll: "What? Seven is a number..."
Me :"*sigh* I realize that... But if it had a color, what color would it be?"
Random person: "Um....blue?"
Me: "Blue?? Really? How come?"
Random person: "I don't know...it's the first thing I thought of...?"
Me: "But does it feel that way to you, like it's always blue, or did you just pick a color?"
Random person: "I just picked a color...how does something feel blue...?"
Me: It just does... I don't know how to explain it.... Never mind. Thanks."

The first time someone said blue though, I was almost shocked. My thoughts were along the lines of "What? Blue?! Sevens are yellow. Yellow! Blue.... *scoff*...." The idea of a blue seven seemed weird,(which I do realize is highly ironic.) and it almost annoyed me.
Once I realized that I felt so strongly about it, I began to wonder if all my numbers had colors. Again, it's not a physical thing, and I had never written it down, so I wasn't sure if all of them did or not. But I obviously know what colors they aren't, so I figured I would start with the strongest feeling ones in my head, and go from there. This is what I got.

7's are yellow
3's are green
2's are bright primary red
4's are orangy-yellow
6's are reddish brown
9's are brown
5's are primary blue
1's are black
0's are white or nothing
8's are maroonish purple

The colors are not related to how my favorite numbers correspond with my favorite colors; 7 was at the top of the list because it is the strongest feeling number in my head, but my favorite color is purple, not yellow. And I do not like 8's, so if it was going off of favorites, it would definitely not be the color it is.
I hate 2's with a passion, and 5's are almost just as bad. I am not sure why I hate 2's so much, but I don't like 5's because they are the upside down image of 2's. I did not like turning 25 for that reason; a whole year of 2's and 5's... Thankfully I didn't have to write it much.

I also like certain numbers with other numbers, even though the number that they make up might be made of two numbers that I don't like. I think 64 is a beautiful number, and the reason I like it is because 6 is a strong number in a gentle/sensitive/masculine sort of way, and 4 has the same gentleness and caring strength. Both numbers feel masculine here, except that 4 is more bold about its strength, thus it compliments 6 well. They work very well as a team. If 4 is leading the number, 46, it still has mostly the same feel, but it feels like it would speak out more in a crowd, since 4 adds that bolder quality to it, whereas 64 has more the quiet, listening, 'I'm right here for you" type of support. And since 6 is a reddish brown, and 4 is a yellow/orange color, they compliment each other in that way as well. 9's feel similar to 6's, and they're the reverse upside down of each other too... But unlike 5's and 2's, I like them. (Honestly, I really don't know what it is about 5's and 2's…maybe it's just the lines.) Although 9's feel slightly more grounded than 6's, so they are brown, as opposed to the reddish brown. 96 is also a great number.
Some numbers can change feel; 4 can sometimes be female, and when it is the color feels a much brighter yellow and loses the orange hue. And depending on which number leads, and how strong it is, it can change the feel of a combined number. 42 is a good number, even though I hate 2's, because the 4 in it is female, and bright enough to compensate for the 2, changing the entire feel of it. If a 4 is in front of it, the 2 loses some of it's overbearing feel, and then it makes a good support/companion number. Also, since 2's feel a bright red, when you put those two together, the bright yellow of the 4 is strong enough to dim out some of the harshness of the 2's red. Weirdly enough, 100 and 10 feel like all white numbers, but if you switch it around and make it 01, the 0 and the 1 both keep their original colors of white and black.

This is just a small sampling of my brain-workings. I didn't really think it was that different, until I started asking people and finding out that their numbers are colorless. I can't imagine my numbers without color, the same way I can't imagine not dreaming at night; it's just the way it is for me. (It makes me feel sad inside when people tell me they either don't or can't remember their dreams...) But dreams are a whole 'nother subject...we'll get there one day.

Anyways...those are some of my number thoughts...would love to hear some of yours

~Ro