Mental Visual Calendar

[funkymonkey]

OK, so this topic is a little wierd/pointless but I'm a little curious how differently your minds work. :)

I was bored and asked my hubby how the months looked like in his head. Both of our answers were totally different...

Funky: Mine looks like a flat oval... It starts with January on the left and moves clockwise all the way around to January again.

Funky's Hubby: His calendar starts with October (no idea why) and isn't exactly in a line...here is what he drew out.

Oct

Nov

Dec

.....Jan

.....Feb

.....Mar

.....Apr

..........May Jun Jul Aug Sep

One thing both of them have in common is we see the months organized like on a conventional calendar, but it's kinda funny to think how differently they are layed out in a year.

What does your mental calendar look like??

[checkerboy]

My mental calendar looks like a giant monster ready to devour me whole if I even try to remember what is written on it. Did I mention that it is purple?

[Lbybug]

hmm. interesting. i'm not sure i've ever thought about what a calendar looks like in my head except maybe...

jan feb mar apr may jun jul aug sept OCT nov dec

oct is bold and capitalized cause that's the month it is. i go through the whole calendar to get to october, it sticks out, then keep going.

interesting topic.

[Wingnut]

I don't think I have a yearly calendar in my head. I do a weekly one, and it would be similar to Bug's, with the current day standing out.

I'm just glad to know I'm not the only one weird in the head.

[funkymonkey]

Did I mention that it is purple?

Seriously?

[checkerboy]

Seriously?

Dang you got me. I actually don't have a calendar in my head. I keep mine on my PDA. But I do go from Jan - Dec in my head, I guess that was kinda drilled into me by those facist school teachers I had.

[funkymonkey]

haha! I was wondering if your purple calendar came as a purple dinosaur.

[HoosierGuy]

People organize the months in their head? I guess my organization goes like - October is after September and that month is after August, and that is after July, and etc.... I don't really picture them in my head.

[Guest Godless]

I rarely think more than one day at a time, mainly because my life isn't eventful enough to accomodate advanced planning. This is my mental planner on a typical workday:

~11 AM: Wake up and eat something.

12-4 PM: watch TV/surf the web

4 PM: get ready for work

5 PM: go to work

11 PM: go out drinking with coworkers

anywhere between 2 and 6 AM: go to bed

My days off are normally more productive, though rarely planned out before waking up the same morning.

[Lbybug]

haha i don't really keep more than one day at a time in my head either. i'm having a hard enough time remembering i have an appointment at 3 tomorrow!!

[applepansy]

my mentally visual calendar. . . since I'm right brained and a picses. . . its just kind of muddles and I skip from Oct 31st to Jan 1st. mines purple too.

wish there was a giggle button next to the thanks button

applepansy

[Truegrits]

I tend to keep a three month mental calendar going...the current month, plus the next two. And I visualize the plans/appointments for those months. But, I back that up with a Day Planner...a monthly calendar on the fridge...one in my office...one in my bathroom...cause my memory isn't what it used to be!

[Moksha]

If we viewed the calandar as a life cycle, we would start it in the spring. March showers could be symbolic of a baby peeing its diapers.

[Wingnut]

wish there was a giggle button next to the thanks button

applepansy

So you could roflmappleso?

I agree though, there should be an 'LOL' button.

[Guest JHM-in-Bountiful]

This is an interesting topic. I' ve always thought about a mental calendar. Mine goes like a clock going counter clockwise. January is where is 6:00 position. February is 5:00, july would be 12:00 , october is 9:00. I suffer from seasonal affective disorder. In my mind the fall and winter months are on a downswing. Spring and summer are on the up-swing. I've talked about my calendar alot in therapy. lol. The calendar year starts at January for me. I hope I made all this clear.

jul 12

aug11 june 1

sept 10 may 2

oct 9 april 3

nov 8 march 4

dec 7 feb 5

jan 6

John:)

I'm editing this post -- the post would not take my clock / calendar diagram. Everything just moved to the left.

Edited October 7, 2008 by JHM-in-Bountiful
add an additional comment

[Honor]

I find this stuff SO fascinating!

Mine is like this:

I see it as a huge wheel that I'm making my way around and I see the year from my perspective in relationship to the wheel. For example, in the summer, I feel like I'm on top of the year and thinking of Christmas is a view downward to the other side. Or in January, I'm starting my way back on the uphill climb of the year. I also associate different shades of colors and color groupings with the time of year. I guess that's not surprising. Aren't people's natural coloring (hair, eye & skin color)categorized by "seasons"?

Man I wish I knew how to digitally animate. I'd love to illustrate the way I see things in my head that are hard to describe. This makes me wonder about all the other ways I view the world compared to other people. Kinda how I've associated some letters and numbers with different genders.

[Guest JHM-in-Bountiful]

THANK YOU Honor!!!!!! That's the mental calendar I was trying to describe. That's what I see in my mind.

:):):):)

[pam]

OK, so this topic is a little wierd/pointless but I'm a little curious how differently your minds work. :)

I was bored and asked my hubby how the months looked like in his head. Both of our answers were totally different...

Funky: Mine looks like a flat oval... It starts with January on the left and moves clockwise all the way around to January again.

Funky's Hubby: His calendar starts with October (no idea why) and isn't exactly in a line...here is what he drew out.

Oct

Nov

Dec

.....Jan

.....Feb

.....Mar

.....Apr

..........May Jun Jul Aug Sep

One thing both of them have in common is we see the months organized like on a conventional calendar, but it's kinda funny to think how differently they are layed out in a year.

What does your mental calendar look like??

Only reason I can think of for his starting in October is that many companies base things on fiscal year. New fiscal year normally would start October 1st.

[funkymonkey]

These are pretty interesting to read! Thanks everyone. :)

[Misshalfway]

This is so weird cuz I think about the Calendar in my head too, only it depends on which subject I am thinking about. If I am thinking of the school year then I think of Sept-May in black capital letters and June, July and August in small letters and usually in a blue or pastel-ish color. And then between Christmas and New Years is kind of stop of yummy that means vacation and lots of fun. I think I put that in white.

If I am thinking about putting my kids in Primary, then I start the Calendar in Jan but divide it by quarters. Yeah....I think they are color coordinated too.

[NeuroTypical]

My calendar appears on the knuckles and valleys of my right hand. Consider this crude depiction of knuckles, palm downward:

-``-___-``-___-``-___-``-

So, the -``-'s are the knuckles, and the ___'s are the space between the knuckles. With me so far?

Starting at the index finger (on the right), that's January. February is the valley. March is the middle finger knuckle, etc.

Why on earth do it this way? Because it is how I remember which months have 31 days, and which have 30/29.

Jan - 31 (knuckle bump)

Feb - 29 (valley)

Mar - 31 (knuckle bump)

Apr - 30 (valley)

May - 31 (knuckle bump)

Jun - 30 (valley)

Jul - 31 (knuckle bump - pinky finger)

Aug - 31 (knuckle bump - start over with pointing finger)

Sep - 30 (valley)

Oct - 31 (knuckle bump)

Nov - 30 (valley)

Dec - 31 (knuckle bump)

It got me through elementary school without having to memorize that awful "Thirty days hath September, April, June..." poem.

LM

Edited October 7, 2008 by Loudmouth_Mormon