Making Sense

My toddler is fascinated with my ever-expanding pregnant belly. She holds it, hugs it, rubs it, kisses it, and talks to it, knowing there is a baby inside. Recently she started waving hi to the belly and then immediately puts her ear on my belly to listen for the baby. It just so happened that my baby kicked at the same moment Ayla put her ear on my belly, and Ayla jumped up in excitement and squealed "Ooooh!" Now she does it all the time, hoping to hear her baby sister's response.

From the moment she was born, my sensory development and awareness has taken on a new role in my life. The sense of touch, smell, taste, sight, and sound are magnified in a child as well as in the relationship between a parent and a child. Senses teach the basic steps of life that we often forget about in our busy adult lives.

Prior to giving birth to my daughter Ayla, I had one other major learning experience about my senses. Upon graduating from college, I moved to Costa Rica to live alone in a small hut in the center of a rain forest. Until then I enjoyed being in nature, but lived the majority of my life in houses, schools, libraries, gyms, art studios, etc. The sudden immersion into a rich diverse environment threw my senses into overdrive.

From mice running over my face during the night to waking up to the sight of snakes dangling down in front of my face to the crunch of bones on top of my roof as a mountain lion chewed up its dinner at midnight to the bitter-sweet taste of wild lemon-oranges growing outside my hut to the smell of a herd of stinky collared peccaries plowing past my doorstep, my senses awoke for the first time in my life. Granted I was fairly safe, so my survival did not depend on the acute awareness of my senses, but they were very important in keeping myself out of danger. Over time, however, my senses taught me more about nature, particularly my place in nature.

From sensory awareness of nature to making sense of my daughter's development, I am learning every day how important it is that we keep in touch with our senses. As writers, we try to incorporate all five senses into our writing to enrich the reader's experience. But how often do we approach the use of sensory writing to go beyond enrichment to a level of teaching awareness and helping children reach a new level of understanding of their senses and their importance in our world.

This is a goal for me with every writing project I take on, but it means taking steps to get myself outside in nature, around people, and more so that I don't lose my own sensory awareness.

What role does your sense of touch, smell, taste, sight, and sound play in your writing?