The Opposite of Disconnection; Learning to Live Sensually

Living in the modern way, we are surrounded by noise I realised this morning. We'd had a jolly school run (ha how middle class and Enid Blyton does that sound?!) singing away to Ed Sheeran (in case you're interested, Castle on the Hill is our current favourite school run song - I recommend it loud and sing along; the little one recommends it quieter and sing along) but once we were down to one in the car, I reverted to a silent trip home.

It's constant if you let it be, the radio, TV, internet, car music, and where is the time for assimilation, for quiet reflection in all of it? It's possible that there isn't time, isn't space for it. We rush our meals, we rush through our whole lives - I rush through the day often, unsure how there'll be time for everything needed to be done so this can be as much to me as to anyone else - I'm learning still! And yet nature succeeds. One little inch at a time, one little drop more, one more leaf growing. Does it all have to happen now? Right now?

I guess there's a balance. The bills aren't going to get paid if I sit staring at the rain and don't work, if I paddle along the beach and run with the wind. But there's also a time and place for rain staring and running with the wind sweeping your hair, brushing against your skin.

So my feeling is maybe we need to dive into a more sensual way of living here and there, when we can. I feel often many of our senses are forgotten - our intellect is engaged and we spend much time living in our head, but how much are we centred in our bodies? How often do we taste our food, instead of shovelling it down, tasting mostly the first and last mouthful as we chat away, read or watch something. Too much at the same time. I feel we're becoming dis-engaged with ourselves. And the disconnect is driven deeper by our virtual living, albeit we connect constantly but at an ever increasing distance. We feel it's OK to cast judgement so quickly - what happened to walking a mile in their shoes and feeling how it really is to be another person?

My invitation would be to walk in the rain, turn your head up and catch a raindrop on your tongue, feel the raindrops on your skin instead of turn away from them. Watch the delicate raindrops collect on a leaf, or recently in my case, on a strawberry - I watched the drop grow ever more pregnant, then drop, before we picked the strawberry and ate it in wondrous enjoyment of the sweetness of our first homegrown fruit of the season. Two weeks later it remains our first homegrown fruit, though we have eaten our way through the early potato harvest now too.

I think we need to hug more. Not fleeting, glancing man pats on the back, but real, connecting hugs. To hold hands, to link arms, to feel contact with another human being. Not live in isolation. Should I have a zillion more hours, I think I'd be in an old people's home, hand holding, massaging, being in contact with others. How we think we can get by - I suppose we survive with basic needs being met, but we can thrive if we let ourselves. I think our brains shut down valuable areas without contact. I could be wrong and haven't researched this enough so feel free to feedback your thoughts but it's a strong feeling for me.

To swim in the sea, naked under a full moon with other mermaid like souls, is a wonderful recent memory and I would invite anyone to (safely) do this or similar. A recent quick dip of a swim in a local river following a run with the dog was a delight of the senses. To watch the heron fly and fish leap whilst swimming another time with a friend, quietly chatting, being, feeling the sensations of the water, cold water, creating burning, prickling sensations on the skin, until I'd adapted to it, then could enjoy the feelings of the water as I moved through it, the feelings of the ease of swimming with the current not against it as we swam up and down the river.

Feeling fully alive and awake the the world around us, is a gift that can be forgotten but definitely shouldn't be. My daughter still laughs about the time a friend and I, stood outside our kitchen door, t-shirts abandoned to enjoy the rain on our skin. Wonderful times and it can still make me smile - I do prefer warm rain though and that day it was delightful.

I feel the current life of fear mongering media streaming into our homes and phones at every hour of the day can make us small, cowed and easy to be convinced that the world is out to get us. To counteract that, I propose a revolution of the senses, to love and be loved by the world around us. To dive into the uncertainty, to watch the seasons, to see the change around us. And to savour. The kiss, the hug, the raindrop. Walk barefoot in fields if you can. I feel the benefit of doing that hours later. I feel alive, invigorated and it's a whole new world to explore in different ways. To be revolutionaries, plant seeds, plants, help the bees, wake up to the world, and people around us.

Love to know what you think too...

Em x

---