I'LL TAKE THEM ROSE TINTED sensing to make sense of the world

How do you see the world? The question is broad enough to elicit an assortment of answers, from the purely visual to philosophical in nature. We each have a unique relationship to the way we experience the world around us. Even so, there are ‘additive’ elements in our collective environment that can cloud or even complicate the view from behind our lenses. Tapping into all five senses with more awareness could surprisingly simplify things a bit for us. 

I think I probably do view the world through rose tinted lenses most of the time. How do you see? Do you see the kaleidoscope of colour that exists simply among the trees lining the roadside? Do you notice the change in formation of the clouds since you last stepped outside? Do you look into the eyes of the person pleading for food at the traffic light and offer a smile? How do you see the world each day? Are you really seeing through your eyes or are you using your eyes simply to navigate your way through distractions? 

When you touch, do you notice what the surface of something feels like against your skin, even for a moment? When we begin to notice these interactions we become more sensitive to the qualities of the objects and beings we come into contact with. A solid oak armchair, the softness of a fluffy pet, the dimpled skin of an orange peel, the warmth of another human body. We can also enable ourselves to observe a sense of feeling empowered through the use of resources available at our fingertips each day. The touch of a phone screen, the boiling of a kettle, opening and closing, a hand on a shoulder - we are creating with every action we take. 

How many different smells would you say you come into contact with each day? Do you notice the smell of your own body; more than one part of your body? Is the smell of your home, your office, your favourite cafe, familiar to you? How many times during the day do you experience the smell of burning or smoke and what are your first thoughts when you do? In my experience I usually try to identify the source (how close it is) and whether or not I have to worry about my safety. Does your daughter, your son, your lover, your mother have a smell that feels like home to you?

Do loud noises cause your body to tense and wince? Can a gentle piece of music soften the lines on your forehead? How does the tone of someone’s voice influence the way in which you respond to them? Do you hear the way your voice changes when you answer the unknown number of a caller who is painstakingly attempting to sell you something? 

And the taste of water. The feeling of cool liquid on your tongue, different in flavour from a tap in the city versus a mountain stream. Why is it more refreshing from a mountain stream? It is probably cleaner, but so is bottled spring water. The difference is river water has energy; it was in motion before you dipped your cupped hands into it. Suddenly this primitive riverside activity seems like the ultimate luxury. Would the setting and the source even make a difference without access to one or all of your senses? 

When we become so tapped out of our bodies or stuck in the vagaries of the mind, we limit perception and give away the simplicity of this beautiful life. Over indulging in stimuli means certain sensory functions may become a bit blurry in those moments and an accumulation of ‘blurs’ sets us up for what can come to be experienced as complications. Whether on an emotional or physical level. When we aren’t ‘tuned in’ through our senses, small niggles in the body can go undetected and take longer to heal than necessary when we finally do notice them as a scream rather than a whisper. When we are with our senses we are present and we can respond appropriately, simply. We notice that the rain is only rain on the skin. If we feel rain drops we get a bit wet. If we become too stuck in the mind’s ‘reel’ we may just notice irritation over getting wet as we try hard to maintain the levity of our special thought cloud. When we can accept through the senses; the breath, a touch, a view, can dissipate a cloud of thoughts enough for life to come back to the reality of simple beauty. And that is where it all begins. The rose tinted lenses. Because the smell of rot or urine on the pavement, is just that. You can leave it there, you identified it. You have smelled it before. Did it help the last time you started creating the 50th reel in your mind on the state of the city streets? Keep it simple. Keep it sense. Make sense from sense. Roses.

“We are always here, just at the surface, or as deeply as you desire,” 

With love,

Your Senses