Heads or Tails

January 22, 2008 - 12 Comments by Mishi - Uncategorized

H E A D S or T A I L S

The Five Senses
(Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch)

Sight

In 2003 my sight changed. Sure, physically, all I had was a simple surgery, but it was the beginning of some life changing revelations. I could see, and my peripheral vision increased. Not only physically, but mentally (and literally). The new year would bring my thirtieth birthday and my “sight” would continue to change. A new decade brought much change, change that was altered by new sight. My mind’s eye got exponentially better as I saw that there was a line drawn in the metaphorical sand of life. I saw myself scratch the already existing line out, with my foot, and I fixed a new limit by drawing my own. The new line is curvy and zigzagged, it’s not just straight and easy. Seeing things differently and more clearly has been a big positive in my life. And, sure sometimes my sight is blurry and I squint, but the way I perceive things, that’s the benefit of altered sight.

 

Sound

I wake up to sound. The sound of a baby crying out. I go about life to sound. The sound of children laughing, playing, screaming, singing, and more. I go to sleep with sound. The sound of a fan humming and dogs snoring. I enjoy “me time” with sound. The sound of my favorite musicians, playing their songs for me and tantalizing parts of my brain that make me smile and think. The sounds of life are abundant. Some are so wondrous while others make me want to stuff cotton in them, but I’m so thankful for them.

 

Smell

This morning Davey awoke and I laid him in the bed next to me, on Michael’s pillow. He doesn’t take a pacifier, rather he likes to run his fingers through my hair. My hair is his pacifier, I guess. Well, as I laid there sharing the pillow, it was all I could do but smile as I smelled the familiarity of Michael. It made me turn my head into the pillow and inhale through my nose deeply. There are many smells in the world that I love (my newborn babies, my Grandmother’s fresh baked bread, the lilacs that grow on the side of my parents back porch, and so much more), but one of my favorites-ever-is the smell of Michael. It’s comforting and so very intimate.

 

Taste

As a little girl, my mom and I would visit a cheese shop, every week. There the owner had a sampling off all types of cheeses with fancy crackers. I would carry myself around that little shop, trying all the cheeses. Sometimes I’d like them and I’d smile, and then sometimes my face would cringe at the pungency of the new taste. That’s life; there are times when you have such a good taste in your mouth that you desire more, and others where it’s all you can do to spit it out and never taste it again.

 

Touch

My hands are dry and cracked, but this doesn’t eliminate their potential to touch the world around me. My fingers touch the keyboard of my laptop, allowing my mind to pour out thoughts and feelings. They take care of children that depend on me, and even if it hurts my dry and cracked hands, I trudge on holding, steadying, and guiding. My hands stroke the face of my lover, and will care for him with great ease and love always. While they might bleed, ache, and become raw, they are the only ones I have, and I will gladly take the pain. Life is too short not to just deal with it.

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