The video is from a long walk we took a week ago and Ernest is smelling the base of yellow flowers. Sounds of a few birds and then a car driving past. Ernest walks forward, smelling more flowers.
I walked in the door and Ernest was excited to see me. He was enthralled with all the new-to-him smells on all my clothes, all the gear I was bringing home.
One of the first smells his nose honed in on was the spot where a big splat of bird poo had dropped on the top of my backpack (good luck coming….!).
Even though I was away for just two and a half days, I had experienced quite a lot of adventure in the outer world and in the inner world. I had many stories to share with Nathan (my partner) and with Ernest.
Though, the thing about recounting stories from a trip that your listeners didn’t go on is that sometimes the magic doesn’t seem to be fully revealed in the verbal telling of the tales. I wonder, though, about the smells. Are the smells a more direct experience and in some ways, a more shared experience?
I had been dancing, laying, and crawling around in lush grass at Earth Sanctuary, a new-to-me spot on Whidbey Island. I was wearing my jeans. Well, really, I wore these jeans all weekend long but the grass was one of the recent experiences the jeans went through…. is that what Ernest smelled on the knees of the jeans? Or did he smell the seagulls’ feasting at the low tide beach? Or the rocky chair on the deck of the place at which I stayed? The farmer’s market bench I sat on while eating freshly made sushi (yes! sushi at the farmer’s market! Sushi is one of my comfort foods).
How can we convey our stories to one another in ways that lead to deeper connection? Words and visuals, yes and they evoke incredible connection at times. Though Ernest definitely shows me that it’s important to value our other senses.
He teaches me that if I really want to form instant, deep connection with another being, whether it’s him or a different species, that considering different senses would be valuable.
I wonder… do you have a primary sense of connection? Or perhaps two that work in tandem to support you in feeling a deep sense of connection?
Maybe it’s similar to the sense you primarily gravitate towards to learn something. Do you primarily learn visually? Auditorily? Through your sense of smell? Through touch? If you have a very young child in your life right now they’re probably learning primarily through taste!
Perhaps your primary sense of connection is similar to “love languages?” I’m riffing right now, thanks to Ernest and his immediate form of re-connecting with me.
I offer you an opportunity to ponder the senses you utilize to connect with another being… you might be surprised by what you find!
Til tomorrow,
Cassandra
hmmm…. incorporate storytelling/storylistening/connection/understanding