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| Nic's Cherry Tree |
A season or so ago, when the cherry tree in front of my
house was bursting with blooms, I almost missed it. Living in our world of
look-but-don’t-touch meant I wasn’t always connected to what was going on around
me. So I decided to get in touch with my five senses. I started with touch. Every
time I passed that tree, I took a moment to run my fingers over its buds. I was
surprised how that simple act freshened my outlook—and made the words come
quicker the next time I was at the keyboard, trying to describe the texture
beneath my heroine’s fingertips.
You can get in on the act. If you typically drink your
coffee with cream, take a few sips without. Really get into the bite of those
brewed beans. Let yourself get the giggles when you hear the neighbor kids
playing on their swing set. Don’t just stop to smell the roses. Smell the
falling leaves this season as well. What will taking a few moments to connect with your senses do for your quality of life? What will it do for the quality of your writing?
I didn't expect what it did for me. So give it a try. Getting in touch with your five senses just might refresh you in the
short term—and keep your writing fresh for the long haul.
How do you get inspired? How do you stay inspired? The Rockville 8 would love to know.
Great topic! I know for me, my sense of smell is the one that often triggers memories and connections to people. I recently had a strong emotion to a smell and decided to do some research. Here's what I found:
ReplyDelete"Because the olfactory bulb is part of the brain's limbic system, an area so closely associated with memory and feeling it's sometimes called the "emotional brain," smell can call up memories and powerful responses almost instantaneously."
Recently my son told me he needed deodorant (he's 12). I went to CVS and found a dizzying array of sprays and roll-ons and finally out of desperation chose old fashion Old Spice. It's one of the strongest associations I have of my husband, that rich spicy smell with his unique scent.
Also, Old Spice has invented some amazing new scents (and I don't mean amazing in the positive sense) and they are SOOO Strong that my olfactory bulb had to shut down and reboot!
Fun topic Nic!
Scent speaks to us in ways we don't even realize. I knew this young woman whose father was an alcoholic. He wasn't a sloppy, abusive drunk, but a sad, always half in the bag, man. She swore she'd never marry an alcoholic.
DeleteSo she met this guy and he was great! She felt like she'd known him forever. They got engaged. She took him home at the holidays. And when she hugged her drunk dad, then her fiancé, she realized they smelled the same. They both had that underlying scent of drinking in secret. That's why she felt so "at home" with the fiancé. He was always half drunk, just like her father.
Needless to say, she didn't marry him.
But it just goes to show how we don't even realize what our senses are saying sometimes. Especially scent!
I was out for a run this weekend and passed by a creek with wildflowers basking in the sun along its banks. No smell, but a vision of loveliness that stayed with me all day.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what impact it had on my writing, but I do know the memory of it is releasing a bit of my Monday morning tension. So maybe when I get tense of my writing progress, I'll need to coax that sunshine infused moment of Zen back into my consciousness.
Hi Keely,
DeleteSounds like you got a two-fer! Not only did the "vision of loveliness" refresh you, but I bet you might call on it the next time you're describing colors in your writing.
Have you ever caught yourself describing all your characters' clothes/cars/haircuts/bedsheets the exact same way? I did. But surprisingly, tapping into my senses meant by the time I got back to my keyboard new ways of describing things popped up. Cool!
Let us know if those wildflowers' colors and textures pop up in your writing!
Lovely reminder, Nichole. I myself was just feeling the weight of the doldrums about my writing career today. Funny. I did get out for a long walk in an old neighborhood with a stream running through it. The leaves are changing colors, too. So the combination of the sun and fresh air helped me. I passed an old covered bridge, which took me back in time--the rural area I grew up in had several covered bridges in the area. Made me nostalgic and miss home. Yes, taking time to connect with nature, in whatever form we can, certainly rejuvenates our senses and breathes life into us and our writing. Thanks for the reminder. It helped! ;0)
ReplyDeleteOh, nostalgia is a powerful writing tool! It can show up in our work in all kind of cozy ways! It sounds you got a two-fer, too. A refreshing walk and a connection to your past that can enhance your writing! Awesome!
ReplyDeleteGreat post. It is nice to use your senses to really explore the world around you.
ReplyDeleteI find there are certain scents that immediately take me to another place. Some of them not always good.
I worked in a now defunct fast food restaurant when I was a teenager. There was always one of those buckets on wheels with a mop in it sitting in the back. Sometimes the water wouldn't be changed for awhile and would start to smell bad. If I walk into a restaurant now and smell that scent, I can't eat there.
Great post. It is nice to use your senses to really explore the world around you.
ReplyDeleteI find there are certain scents that immediately take me to another place. Some of them not always good.
I worked in a now defunct fast food restaurant when I was a teenager. There was always one of those buckets on wheels with a mop in it sitting in the back. Sometimes the water wouldn't be changed for awhile and would start to smell bad. If I walk into a restaurant now and smell that scent, I can't eat there.