Carson Chernin

I was in my 60's. Had a successful career, indeed thought I had a great memory. Something happened and I was asked to describe the participants. I could in general detail but they kept asking me what their faces looked like. I did not know. Thought I might have facial blindness. Someone asked me to draw a house. My childhood home. I did and it had zero details, just a four sided house. I too was preoccupied with photography, photos of everything. I had no idea others could actually "see" those same photos later. I excelled in reading, spelling all while developing ways to memorize every word. Others just visualize the word. Was told I had aphantastia. Everything started making sense. I once ran into a school classmate at Disney in the 1980. She recognized me, I only recalled who she was after I heard her voice. Thirty years later I was in a grocery and heard her calling my name. Again it took me a spark before I recognized her. I've known her since second grade. I am still amazed that other people actually see actual things. I've discovered some folks do not have an internal monolog in their heads. Mine narrates 24/7. It's difficult for me to understand. Then again I have no apples, houses nor anything else on the dark blank screens in my head.