Carmelo is back with an interesting question for us! You know Carmelo if you’ve been on the porch before – he’s the one who makes sure everyone has a tea or coffee and gets involved in the conversation! He blogs over here! Take it away Carmelo!
Have you ever seriously considered what your life would be like with just four of your five senses? How many things would be different? Would you still be you?
Despite their importance, 99% of the time they operate almost robotically without any conscious thought whatsoever. Our senses of touch, hearing, sight, smell and taste influence how we think and act. So, why do we often take them for granted?
Recently I decided to take them off auto-pilot and use them consciously. I was amazed to discover the richness that I had been missing.
Our senses are the windows to our world. They lead to a diversity of emotions that color our journeys. We know the feelings generated by the smell of a bakery, the sight of a dazzling sunset, hearing our favorite song, the taste of chocolate, or an intimate touch. These are all heightened when we add acute awareness.
But there are also times we wish they were less developed. Our senses can reveal things to us we wished they hadn’t – seeing or hearing things that upset or hurt us. If we burn a finger we wish that our sense of touch didn’t also cause such pain. Or, imagine the quality of your life if you lived next to a smelly garbage dump. Would that mess with your mind and mood?
I then found myself wondering which sense was most important to me and even wondered which one I’d give up if I could only have four. Would that change who I was? Would anyone know who Helen Keller was if she had five perfectly functioning senses? I’m paying more attention to my senses now. I’m curious to know how you treat yours.
How do your senses shape the life you lead? Do you have a favorite? Which one could you do without if you had to?
photo credit: Dennis Wong
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I use a sensory check sometimes to bring me back to the present. What am I seeing right now, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching? It's a great technique and quick--you can do it at a red light or in the check out line.
Also, when I was studying nunchucks last year, I realized that I could practice better sometimes with my eyes closed. I would then quit trying to see what I was doing, and feel it instead. It made a huge difference. Interesting.
@galenpearl That's really neat, Galen. I do something very similar. I'm lucky enough to live along the Carson River and take a lot of walks. I'll often pretend that i can experience the walk with just one single sense. I like to "see" what I can learn or absorb with just the one sense. Then next time I'll pick another. At times I try to use all my senses equally as I go.
I like the eyes-closed nunchuck work. Those are not only fun things to do they just put an entirely different spin on your actions. And, yes, it really can improve or expand your awareness.
it's a great post, Carmello!!!! I also thought about this topic in terms of marketing or language learning, more feelings we used during event/process - more merorable it becomes for us, all associations imprints into our memory. For me the most difficult usually is to recall sound associations.
@ngoloskokova Hi! Thanks for dropping in! Marketing is a fascinating subject and exercise. I like to think of it as the art of shaping people's opinions and beliefs. You're so right that the more of our senses that can be stimulated by a message the more we're apt to remember it and then, perhaps, act on it. Are you in sales and/or marketing?
For me, music can really drum up memories and emotions. So, associations based on sound really is a factor for me at times. Advertisers use jingles a lot to create these associations that hopefully lead to actions (buying) when faced with alternatives. Sometimes, however, all they get is a type of branding that doesn't necessarily lead to buying.
Tell me more about the "language learning" you spoke about. how would we incorporate more senses into that?
@ngoloskokova Interesting take on this! In marketing today they do try to employ many of the senses, even trying to incorporate the sense of smell! I wonder which of the sense would be most valuable in marketing.
You say you find it hardest to remember sounds. I wonder if our weakest suit is different for each of us. Some of us are visual, some tactile, etc. How can advertisers cover all the bases? I bet they're busy trying!
Welcome to Life, for instance! Carmelo will be by later!
@Lori thank you, Lori for welcoming, what sense is most valuable - good question, for example, during summer festivals I understood - that music is really important to create atmosphere, without it themed events like (60-ies, or kelt) do not work, so if you need to create atmosphere, space where people need to expirience smth - musit is totally must.
On russian market now there are also word experiments - like slogan for one tea - look how tasty, taste how nice, and so on.
it's a great field for experimenting
@Carmelo I love where you mind roams!
Tuning into my senses is a beautiful meditation practice that I've shared with my clients to come HOME to their bodies. I also shared a guided meditation on it if you're curious:
http://www.mymiboso.com/body-awaken-the-senses-with-mindfulness-meditation/
@Sabrina at MyMiBoSo I like that, Sabrina. I've often taken meditative walks where I focus on a sense individually and sometimes all of them collectively. Getting access to the body is really valuable, isn't it? It's the core of our being. I think too many times we want to escape it or transcend it as if it's less important.
@Carmelo Absolutely - we're spiritual beings having a physical experience and can only fully enjoy this physical experience when we stay present with it :).
Hi Carmelo, what a wonderful issue to ponder. My girls just asked me that and I think I would most miss my sight. I depend on that so much from my computer work to driving.
Tech is making life much more accessible to those who have lost a sense, but I still think it would be a struggle without sight.
@wonderoftech Yes, Carolyn! When you think of how much time we spend looking at a computer monitor, it's hard to imagine losing the gift of sight! Impossible, really!
@wonderoftech Hi Carolyn. Thanks for stopping by! You're so right about technology bringing access to things formerly unattainable to those who have lost a sense. How interesting that your girls just asked you that. I wonder what prompted the question.
I would agree that sight would be a tough one to lose. As you said, so many things we do depend on it.
Hi Carmelo! I think my most valuable "sense" is my 6th sense. To me it's at least as important as any of the others. Life would be utterly different if we lost one of the standard 5, for sure, but as they say, when that happens the others get heightened to make up for it. Not looking for that experience, but I'm sure it changes everything.
@Julie | A Clear Sign Hey Julie. Yes, absolutely that sixth sense is important. I thought that "sense" would be brought up! Who's to say it's not the most important? Yet, it's a difficult one to describe and its effectiveness varies so greatly from person to person.
We would likely make up for a lost sense if we had to. But, it's hard to know who we'd be in that situation. Or how we'd be different. Might we be the same? I can think of people who have a weight issue, or are unusually short or tall, or have a speech impediment and the effects these things often have on their personalities and even career paths ... it all fascinates me.
I remember the last time I did a fast, how amazed I was when I took that first bite of apple at the end. It was like an explosion of goodness in my mouth and I realized how I love my sense of taste! I mean, don't you hate it when you have a cold and can't taste anything???
Having said that, I can't imagine being without sight either, which reminds me of a time years ago when I was quite down about life. My relationship had ended and I felt so sad and lost, and what I did to take care of myself was visit the art gallery every day and sit with the beauty. It wasn't strategic, as I didn't know I was doing that but it's where my soul led me for nourishment.
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@Sandi Amorim Hmmm, do we eat less when we can't taste? I wonder if that could be a weight-loss tactic that would capture the world. We should do a test Sandi! ;-) Eating just isn't as fun when we can't smell/taste.
It's funny the things we know intuitively, isn't it? Sometimes we listen and sometimes we don't. Could we describe the soul as a sense? An entire array of senses that we can't describe or define? Just because it's spiritual, does it preclude it from being a type of "sense?"
I am in love with all my senses Carmelo and I don't know which one I'd surrender willingly. I can't imagine not being able to see, but I get such enjoyment from my sense of smell (when the smells are pleasant - like aromatherapy) and I know that's attached to the sense of taste so losing smell would automatically rule out two of them !!!
We're luckier than we know, aren't we?
@Lori Oh for sure. it's amazing to me how things that matter so much can be largely ignored most of the time. I guess it's the nature of things. What we've been given freely we take for granted and what we have to work for we value more.
Yeah, smell really is a mood changer isn't it? My sister is super-sensitive to unpleasant smells. At times that's very unfortunate! ;-) And your comment about how smell affects taste makes me also wonder how our senses are tied together and support the others without us even realizing it. Does a great looking dish or food make it taste better? Can sight replace a diminished olfactory system?
@Carmelo I think presentation is paramount in food. If you anticipate that something will taste good, I'm sure you prepare that in a lot of little ways. I don't know if it can replace a diminished olfactory system (and I don't want to know - not by first-hand experience anyway! ;-)
Smell is a huge mood-changer. Think of how you feel when you walk into the woods in the autumn just for one example. The smell makes you feel good - it amplifies the experience of being there. Maybe all our senses do but we just tune into one at a time. Do you think that's what we do?
@Lori I don't know, maybe. I would agree that smell affects our mood more readily than the other senses. Like you, I love the smell of the forest. When I travel through the Sierra from my desert town of Carson City I have to stop and get out and fill my lungs with the scent of the pines.
Seeing them while driving or even when I get out of the car, while it's inspiring and beautiful, just doesn't have the same effect as the smell. I'll often touch the trees to add to the sensations but it doesn't compare.
I feel I couldn't do without any! I have glasses and feel so terribly lost when I can't find my glasses for a few minutes. I feel we underestimate the power of our being - and we totally overlook the joy it is to have all your senses working. My cousin in blind and though he is all adapted to everything in life now, I saw him struggle with life since he was a kid. And he doesn't complain ever.
Like @Late_Bloomers said, Helen Keller could tell us.
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@Hajra Absolutely right, Hajra, could not agree more! I also had a relative who turned blind when he was blind and he could not finish his studies (this was a long time ago, when I was a kid he was already old, or so I thought). He coped rather well with his handicap and was a passionate cook but he was also ready to pick a (verbal) fight anytime and short of temper. Like your cousin he never complained. I had noticed that he compensated with his hearing for his loss of sight and he had an uncanny way of detecting when I tried to pick up something he had dropped.
Latest blog post: YOUR TURN! Lori’s Winter Tabbouleh!
@Hajra @Late_Bloomers No question that struggle would be there - at least for a time. Your cousin struggled then adapted. Yep, Helen Keller seemed to put up a huge fight before breaking through and adapting. Gosh that was a captivating story to read when I was a kid.
We do take our senses and abilities for granted. Like @Late_Bloomers said, other senses have given her a keen awareness in other areas. Like Superman's vision and the abilities of other Super heroes, we wished we could do the impossible. And we imagine that having a highly developed sense would do that for us! (at least i did that as a kid ... often!)
Two of my five senses are impaired: my seeing (retinal detachment) and my hearing (Tinnitus). Am I therefore an "expert" in answering your questions, Carmelo? No, I do not think so. It all depends on how we deal with our personal handicaps, Helen Keller could tell a story.
Fortunately my olfactory and gustatory sense have always been dominant and it only seems logical that I have a deep passion for food, experimenting in cooking with aromas from all over the world and fragrances in general. This has led me to composing my own fragrances. No wonder I was very much taken with "The Perfume" by Patrick Suesskind.
Latest blog post: YOUR TURN! Lori’s Winter Tabbouleh!
@Late_Bloomers I didn't realize you have two senses impaired Barbara! I have a bit of tinnitus but I don't notice it a lot. I didn't even realize that this wasn't something everyone heard. I thought it was the sound that silence made :-)
Do you think your senses of smell and taste are amplified because of this?
@Lori @Late_Bloomers "the sound that silence made" ... Reminds me of the Simon and Garfunkel song "Sounds of Silence." It does make me wonder if we all have a certain level of sounds we "hear" even when there's nothing there to be heard.
@Late_Bloomers @Carmelo Aw - they happened at the same time!?! :o I'm glad it is an enjoyable trip today and that blogging and writing are so life-giving for you. :-)
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@Lori @Carmelo LOL, trust you, Lori, to want some explanations: you know this twofold impairment of my senses happened at the same time, for me out of the blue as I was not paying any attention to the warning signs. It is like a hiatus: here was the old Barbara (rather happy go lucky, forging ahead, opinionated) and all of a sudden there is need for a new Barbara to find herself but where? It was a long process, it is a life long process, sometimes painful, but these days it is an enjoyable trip. And blogging and writing are two vital tools to help me along.
Latest blog post: YOUR TURN! Lori’s Winter Tabbouleh!
@Late_Bloomers @Carmelo Good morning Barbara! I'm sorry - I lost you a bit. What do you mean about "the old and the new me."?
@Lori @Carmelo good morning to you! I am not sure, Lori, but it is a first step in the direction I want to follow. And it is also fun to listen to the discussions of the old and the new me .
Latest blog post: YOUR TURN! Lori’s Winter Tabbouleh!
@Lori @Late_Bloomers I will often answer "green" when someone asks me my favorite color. But, which green do I mean? And when someone else calls something green there are times when I would disagree. Strange, in a way.
Makes one wonder about the trustworthiness of an eye witness, huh? (eh?)
@Late_Bloomers @Carmelo You have accepted these things and have turned them into valuable antennae to make you more empathetic. That's so admirable. It makes sense to me that you are more appreciative of all your senses. We lead such unaware lives, don't we? But maybe not you :o
@Lori @Carmelo Beautiful, Lori: "the sound that silence makes."
I do not compensate the deficit with my other senses, I have learnt to cherish all my senses in their own capacity. Sometimes I wonder how I manage to take any pictures, sometimes I wonder whether I have heard correctly (and believe me there are misunderstandings!). But having two senses impaired made me more aware of all my senses - does that make sense?
I have come to terms with my tinnitus, this is my little man sitting in my right ear (I have tinnitus in both ears, but the right one is stronger), I know it is stress related as the little man's voice becomes quite loud at certain times and I try to listen to him.
And when I am tired my right eye makes me look cross eyed which some people find very endearing and I find it very annoying!
I have developed an attitude of making the best out of everything without belittling it. And feeling more empathy with others suffering from any handicap.
Latest blog post: YOUR TURN! Lori’s Winter Tabbouleh!
@Carmelo @Late_Bloomers Interesting thought Carmelo. We don't really know what other people experience. For instance, do you see what I see when we both say we see yellow?
Yes, I heard the song as I typed that!
@Late_Bloomers We can make up for things. That's the beauty of being human - as long as we recognize our ability to adapt and excel in other areas. Barbara, you indicate that your senses of smell and taste are dominant. It makes me wonder if they've always been or if any recent changes may have enhanced these.
Very interesting how the direction of your life and passions are being influenced by your senses. I love it. Have your impairments also caused stresses that you have to deal with ... or have you overcome those? I know others struggle mightily with things like that.