Playing With the Senses
Tuning in to the world around us for inspiration
It’s five weeks after my spinal surgery, and I finally feel like I am nearly back to my pre-injury energy levels. Feels miraculous, to be honest, though I still can’t bend or twist, and yesterday I spent the day in bed, recuperating from having overdone it on Saturday.
My walks have gotten longer. I am averaging around 9,000 steps a day, which is way more than I was averaging before I could’t walk! It’s become part of my daily routine, to figure out ways I can extend my walks.
This morning I woke up early and walked to my neighborhood coffee shop, where I finished outlining my book revision. This task, to finish my outline, has been challenging, because my book has so many threads, so many different narratives. But once I told myself I was going to finish it, I did. And tomorrow I get to start the actual revision, which feels very exciting.
Maybe exciting is an understatement. Now that my outline is done, I feel totally capable of revising this book. I honestly can’t wait to start. We’ll see how I feel about it by the end of the week…
After my time at the coffee shop I chatted with my writer’s group via Zoom, and then my phone died.
Because of this, I couldn’t listen to my headphones. I’ve written about headphones before. They’re my constant companion. But today, I put them in my backpack and walked down the streets of my now familiar neighborhood. I remembered how, in yoga nidra training, we were taught to open our ears and listen to the farthest away sound.
I practiced this as I walked, and noticed that there were birds calling to each other over distances, just like in the forest or brush or grasslands. When a crow landed on the street near me, I heard the whoosh of its wings and the sharp tap of its talons on the concrete. A seaplane flew overhead, loud and low. When I came upon a sidewalk garden box, I spooked a robin, which flew out of an overgrown bunch of grass, scaring me in turn.
Would I have noticed that robin with my headphones on, other than seeing it? I wouldn’t have heard the talons of the crow, or the barking of the dogs inside their houses as I passed by. The wind rustling the leaves of the trees.
It occurred to me that writing, at its best, creates a world for its readers, and if I am creating worlds for my readers I am doing us all a disservice by forgetting to experience the fullness of my senses with intentionality.
I am forgetting to be present.
I wear my headphones not to listen to music (though I do sometimes listen to music) but often for audiobooks. I want to be productive. To learn as much as I can.
And in doing that, I forget to live my life.
I forget to be present.
So, I am giving myself an assignment. For each day of this week, I will walk seven blocks inhabiting a single sense. Today, it was hearing. Tomorrow, touch? How does one inhabit touch? By touching things. By feeling the touch of my feet on the ground. By taking leaves and petals in between my fingers. By feeling the touch of the air on my skin.
There’s so much possibility for experiencing, in just one sense!
And if you’ve not got five senses, then surely the four or three that you have are well developed.
Join me? And then tell me about it. I’d love to hear.