Built for Hurt

 Photo courtesy of Roberto Vongher and Wikimedia Commons

I’m delighted to have my essay “Built for Hurt” published in the inaugural issue of qualia, an “experimental journal dedicated to creative and critical thinking at the intersection of the arts, humanities, and medical sciences. With a focus on lived experiences, embodied encounters, phenomenological investigations and unusual perspectives, qualia publishes personal, theoretical, scientific, sonic, and visual responses to particular themes: this inaugaral issue of qualia explores the theme of pain.”

Qualia is edited by Dr. Elinor Cleghorn, who has conducted research on the scholarly and artistic implications of mirror-touch synaesthesia at Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art. I was fortunate to participate in some of Dr. Cleghorn’s inquiry into experiences of mirror-sensory synaesthesias, and I’m honored that she encouraged me to pen an essay about my encounters with synesthetic pain for the first issue of qualia.

I am indeed built for a certain type of hurt. My synaesthesia-for-pain is triggered every single day on multiple occasions, often by the most mundane objects. But sometimes my mirror-touch synaesthesia and synesthesia-for-pain go into overdrive; one such example of this sensory overload was witnessing (via electronic media) the wreck of the Costa Concordia. My essay Built for Hurt explores this tragedy from a synesthetic perspective. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share my essay with you via qualia journal.

Carolyn CC Hart

I'm a neurodiversity advocate, an artist, an author, and a licensed massage therapist. My senses are intertwined via synaesthesia, a neurocognitive difference, which informs my writing, my visual art, my costume design, and my long career in manual therapy. I am continuing to learn how my divergent brain creates both opportunities and obstacles, and I support the argument that neurodiverse traits are not necessarily pathologies, but represent part of the spectrum of human somatosensory, intellectual, and cognitive experience. I support Judy Singer's theories of neurodiversity which include the concept that just as conserving biodiversity is necessary for a sustainable, flourishing planet, so respecting neurodiversity is necessary for a sustainable, flourishing human society. I am a founding member of the International Association of Synaesthetes, Artists, and Scientists, where I serve as the IASAS secretary. I've practiced therapeutic massage for more than 30 years, and feel that my sensory sensitivities have helped me thrive in my hands-on career.

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