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Rediscovering the senses: disturbed by delight
I'm reading Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of the Senses, a luscious read. Not only do the words float and burst and drip off the page, they taste yummy too. If you're not a sensuist* already, I hope A Natural History of the Senses converts you.
"An aphrodisiac for the sense receptors. Read a chapter, then step outside and voila: The sky is a deeper blue, the birds sing a sweeter song. How could the world seem otherwise, after feasting on voluptuous prose like this?" -Chicago Tribune
"A wonderful idea for a narrative journey, one that touches upon biology and anthropology, art and human consciousness...a heady, sometimes utterly engaging dive into the world around us--from the hormonal effects of the smell of musk to the biological necessity of touch... Ackerman's poetic vision allows her to find mystery and meaning in the most personal and idiosyncratic places." --Boston Globe
I think this is a great book for writers to read. Ackerman says, "Much of life becomes background, but it is the provence of art to throw buckets of light into the shadows and make life new again." In order to do that, we have to stay attuned to our senses, don't we?
When I finished the chapter on Smell, I felt as if I had been awakened. I noticed the scent of everything around me with an intense appreciation. The section on perfume was especially interesting. Ackerman asks a professional perfume creater why she thinks humans have perfumed themselves with the scents of flowers, fruits and even animal secretions since the beginning of time, and she replies, "When I first saw Picasso's Guernica, it was distrubing. I was horrified and fascinated at the same time. It was disturbing, but also deeply moving. Perfumes do that, too--shock and fascinate us ... Our lives are quiet. We like to be disturbed by delight."
Now I'm reading the chapter on Touch and am overwhelmed with the significance of the role this sense plays in our lives from day one. Tonight I was gushing about the Tactile Dome in San Francisco, which Ackerman mentions, and later Alan informed me that he is taking me there for my birthday. I'm so excited. Here's an excerpt from an article about the exhibit:
"Visitors enter through a light-lock room into a totally dark maze (path). Then, for an hour and fifteen minutes, they feel, bump, slide and crawl through and past hundreds of materials and shapes which blend, change and contrast.
The purpose is to disorient the sensory world so that the only sense the visitor can rely on is touch. The sensation is so outside ordinary experience that a few people panic. An attendant in a control panel can reach every part of the ant-hill like maze almost instantly.
Pre-opening visitors have compared the experience to being born again, turning yourself inside out head first, being swallowed by a whale, and inevitably, being enfolded in a giant womb.
Seemingly the tactile equivalent of a light show, the tour is actually a carefully planned and structured succession of shapes, temperatures and textures which require the full range of the touch sense to perceive.
The idea is to make people aware of what a complex. sensitive and under used sense touch is, and to train them to use the astonishing range of its perceptions..."
I'm looking forward to it. (And to the rest of Ackerman's book!)
*a person who rejoices in sensory experiences
- Adventures in Art
- Alexandria the Great
- Bookish
- carpe diem
- Chats with Josh
- Everything would be splendid if only there were nachos and cake
- Gimme that old time religion
- If this isn't nice I don't know what is
- Mushy Stuff
- Noah's world
- People Caught Flying
- Philip Pullman is a pistol
- Tangled up in Bob
- They're coming to take me away--haha
- Write on
- Yet another post full of those dad-blamed whippersnappers
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12 comments:
I might just have to check out this book. I'm not good at integrating senses in my stories and this might inspire me there.
It *is* inspiring. I love books that make me pay more attention to living life to the fullest. This is one of those books.
That maze sounds kind of scary! I can't wait to hear how it goes.
I'll have to check ou that book.
Uh, I just read that one of the visitors to the tactile dome said, "It fulfilled my childhood dream of getting swallowed by a clown."
Hey, the Tactile Dome was designed by the brother of Francis Ford Coppola.
There's an audio counterpart on the other side of town: http://itotd.com/articles/333/audium/
And now I'd better get to work!
>>"It fulfilled my childhood dream of getting swallowed by a clown."<
:O
The audium sounds cool, too--thanks!
I mentioned that after reading this book, I feel more attuned to the senses, and I'm not exaggerating. Last night, I lay in bed for a long time just "sensing" things. Everything was upfront and center--very vivid. The sound of a faraway dog barking, and Alan's breath, the texture of the comforter against my arm, the feel of Alan's clavicle under my thumb, the smell of the candles in the house that had been blown out. Wish I could say I was aware of a taste, too, but I guess my toothpaste flavor didn't register. :)
Anyway, this kind of heightened awareness was exactly what I experienced the night I first tried meditating. (And I woke up with an immediate awareness in the morning as well.)So I'm thinking that the idea of living in the NOW, or focusing on the present, is actually just paying attention to your senses, yes?
Early humans (and those still living in traditional lifeways), I've read recently, were very closely connected to their natural environment and much more in tune with all of their senses than we are because their survival depended upon it from moment to moment. Sedentary life, technological break-throughs to overcome natural dangers, and urbanism made us less reliant on immediate and exhaustive knowledge of our surroundings. So I bet you're right: heightening one's awareness of sensory perception may be a way of experiencing the interconnectedness of the present moment. Like meditation, focusing on the senses may have a way of diffusing the "narrator" in our heads (our sense of self) so that we feel less individual and more connected to our surroundings.
I'm really looking forward to the Tactile Dome. I just made our reservations! Everything is in place for a sensory bonanza.
Thanks for a great review. Will definitely check out the book.
Vijaya
Christy,
The book sounds very interesting. Like Alan said, paying attention to the senses helps us let go of the constant loop of random thoughts in our brain. Sometimes I wonder what animals make of the same stuff that surrounds us. Their senses are so different ... And for wild creatures, their survival, like that of early humans, depends on their awareness of their environment.
Yes, I watch our dog through the window sometimes in the back yard and wonder what's going on with her. She'll raise her head up as if she's experiencing something I can't feel or see or hear.
The night that I was more aware of my senses, I would have been ready for anything--I would have seen danger or felt it, smelled it, or heard it a-coming from far off.
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