Online Writing Class ~ Journal Writing Topics
Write A Way: Journey to Creativity
Exploring the World with Your Senses: Touch
By Sandra Lee Schubert
See me, feel me, touch me, heal me.
See me, feel me, touch me, heal me.
See me, feel me, touch me, heal me.
See me, feel me, touch me, heal me, heal me, heal me.
~ Pete Townshend, composer of Tommy
Do you remember the first thing you ever touched? Most likely you don't. Nonetheless when you were young your senses were on fire. Every touch was a new experience. Watch a baby. See how they react to new textures. They are surprised most times. You can see them trying to figure out what it is they are feeling. Even when they touch something they don't like they are still willing to keep exploring.
Children are born true scientists. They spontaneously experiment and experience and reexperience again. They select, combine, and test, seeking to find order in their experiences - "which is the mostest? which is the leastest?" They smell, taste, bite, and touch-test for hardness, softness, springiness, roughness, smoothness, coldness, warmness: the heft, shake, punch, squeeze, push, crush, rub, and try to pull things apart.
~ R. Buckminster Fuller,
US architect & engineer (1895 - 1983)
As an artist, it is important to engage in all our senses as fully as possible.
Think of a potter out of touch with her clay. She might create technically correct pieces yet they would lack a certain feeling to them. There is a potter's work I love. I like to hold her pieces. They have a wonderful feel to them. Each piece seems to have a special energy. Her whole family is involved in her work. Helping create and sell her pottery. Each item in her collection has a feeling of love in it. Wouldn't each of us want our work to elicit that kind of energy?
I want all my senses engaged. Let me absorb the world's variety and uniqueness.
~ Maya Angelou author & poet (1928 - )
How can that happen? First remember what it's like to feel. Explore the world as if you are a child again. Don't take for granted the ordinary things. As you watch TV, feel the remote control. That's right, the remote control. It is an ordinary thing. But it has a shape and feel to it. There is a weight to it. A push of the button can take you to great heights or TV lows. Holding an ordinary thing like a remote can move you through the world, time and history.
Such an ordinary thing can be the catalyst for great works of art stimulating the imagination and creating worlds for others to enjoy. As we touch, we feel and we imbue the world with our graces. It is the experience of our everyday life that fuels the muse. Great works come from daily experiences.
In the movie
Tommy,
the title character loses most of his senses because of a traumatic experience. Though he can no longer feel in the same way he can still touch and that sense of touch leads to some success. We may not want to lose all our senses to gain success but taking the time to explore each of our senses can open up a new world of possibility for our art.
Not the senses I have but what I do with them is my kingdom.
~ Helen Keller (1880 - 1968)
As writers we may not think our work can stimulate the sense of touch. If you love to read you know the pleasure of holding a book in your hands. The weight of the books their textures, even the smell can make you smile. Consider how words make you feel. We are touched by great works, moved to tears or anger. We become intimate with characters in books and stories. Keep exploring the world with your senses. Touch everything. Use this sense to guide you towards your
journal writing topics.
This Week's Journal Writing Topics:
- Explore the world through touch. Take objects with different textures. As example; pick an orange, a piece of velvet, sandpaper and a doll. Close your eyes and pick each object up. What are the sensations? What emotions do you feel? What images are invoked?
- Write a story or poem about the images, sensations and emotions that you discovered while holding each object.
Copyright © 2006 Sandra Lee Schubert. All rights reserved. If you are interested in publishing this article, please email
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