April's Sensual Delights
Sensual Inventory: a monthly round up of things I love and have been inspired by through the senses.
It’s been a while since I posted a sensual inventory and it’s sometimes a bit tricky because I’ve experienced so many things over the past month that I’d love to share about and often forget. That’s exactly what makes this practice so beautiful, it allows us to recall the sensual delights of life.
Let’s start with another way I like to record sensual inventories—one sentence for each sense. These often turn into nifty little poems. Here’s one from April 16th:
Endless ripples of folded waves Calming sound transmission of the birds A brisk spring breeze kissing soft skin Scents of salt and dirt skipping through the air Subtle coffee staining the back of my tongue
April Sensual Inventory
What did I see? My newest obsession: acrylic inks. I discovered these in my art therapy session last week and now I need to buy myself a set. As if I don’t have enough art supplies that I rarely use. I love this medium because it is flowy like watercolors but with high pigmentation and permanent stay. I made this in therapy while I talked about my need to fix everything. I didn’t fix anything in this painting. Task accomplished.
What did I hear? The soothing sounds of the beach down the road from where I live. Whenever I feel stressed or I’m moving through heavy emotions, I find safety and solace at the beach. Now that spring is upon us, the birds are singing and waves are crashing with a sparkle of sun. Although, I have to admit, moving from winter into spring felt like trudging through mud this year.
What did I touch? Soft kittens. I mean, what else is there to say? Look at these two cuties calling me back to bed. Persephone (the black kitty) does this really cute thing and curls up in my right arm right before I get up in the morning. I love waking up to kitten cuddles. My allergies would disagree.
What did I smell? Every spring, a local farm on the island has a tulip festival. Most often I try to avoid the crowds of this wildly popular event. But this year, I thought, why not? Let’s see what all the fuss is about. Who knew there so many types of tulips? (I didn’t.) The frilly ones are especially delightful. Besides the $20 ticket to get in and $1 per tulip picked, it was quite the sight to see. I guess this could go under what I saw, but they smelled pretty damn good, too.
What did I taste? Ok, so this one’s going a little further back into March but I can’t stop thinking about this luxury strawberry: Oishii. Yes, I said luxury strawberry. Oishii berries are non-GMO and vertically grown in New Jersey (relatively local to me). Is it worth $10 for 8 strawberries? Probably not. Especially in this economic climate. But hey, I got them for free at The Red Experience. I loved their tasting presentation where the Oishii ladies in red aprons encouraged guests to not only notice how they taste, but also how they look, feel, and smell. Let me tell you, they are different. This is the most exquisite strawberry I’ve ever tasted.
That’s it for now, my friends. I hope you enjoy the sensual delights of what it means to be in a human body. Sometimes we forget. Let’s remember, together.
With delight,
Olivia