Sense & Sensuality

There is something mighty powerful about the human condition: trained to relate to the world with these super sensitive tendrils of awareness. We go day in and day out utilizing our faculties and so often we take our own bodies for granted. In our daily sprint from location to location, how often is there any contemplation given to the vast talents we possess? I encourage each and every person to attempt, in the midst of livelihood-chaos, to acknowledge your heartbeat, your skin -- and how it touches everything from your own clothes to how it clings to your desk on a humid day -- the tiny little hairs in between your shoulderblades. Can you feel how the fabric moves in response to a simple shrug of your shoulder?

Yesterday, I had the occasion of visiting a city I once spent intimate hours investigating. A city where I once shared numerous experiences with others, loved ones, friends, family. As I walked along the charming cobblestone path, my muscles engaged the rockiness of that earth, the uneven balancing act that commanded patience and admiration. I followed the waterfront behind some historic townhouses, to a shady spot where a tree stood in someone's yard, unwilling to behave. It reached its explorative branches and unruly leaves out into the pathway, gracing every passerby with its gentle touch. I recognized the leaf-pattern, and the thought crossed my mind that it reminded me of a tamarind tree. And upon closer inspection, lo and behold, the nearly-lost remnants of a single tamarind bean pod. Though it was dry, cracked and broken, I reached up and plucked this tree's offering. The scent was lovely. That combination of sweet, slightly tangy and woody aroma blended together evoking such a distinctive memory of my experience with a far away cousin of this tree. As I walked along, beneath the shade of this magnificent creature, she caressed my freshly trimmed (buzzed) scalp with her tiny leaves. It was a splendid sensation I hope to savour for days to come.

Today, during a drive home from a hobby-outing, I was listening to a Led Zeppelin CD I purchased just yesterday -- one that reminds me of the bygone pleasure I used to receive from listening to classic rock and roll. The persistent rhythm of the bass drum, snare & cymbal pounded into my driver side seat cushion. I could feel it reverberate through my seatbelt, kneading the beat into my sternum. The bass guitar was heavenly and the sweet voice arrived from decades away, serenading me, and me alone. When music is experienced whole-bodily like that, it has the capacity to transport you across limits of time, space and all other boundaries of Self.

I prefer open windows to air conditioning, so as to be immersed in the very air that feeds me and keeps me alive. To feel the fearsome heat of the sun against my skin, to come into contact with the same energy that turns spring green and allows for life in our tons of ocean water -- it is a privilege, one not to be taken so lightly.

I love the entire oral feeling after I've had a beer. Smooth tongue, sweet saliva, sensitive lips, soft taste of alcohol with every in-breath. It's a flavor particular to beer. And it's one that I cherish.

Yes, our senses are a gift. And the only way to maintain the power of Sensuality, is by giving remembrance to the very endowments that allow for it. Move in and smell your lover's aroma that rises so faintly from the nape of her neck. Feel how the air must drag across her skin before entering your nostrils. Use the back of your hand to brush against his chest -- the skin behind your hand is so much more sensitive than the palm, and most likely it's a foreign sensation.

Love thy senses. Love thyself. And then, you can admire the Sense and Sensuality of an other person.