Saturday, September 01, 2007

What does "sensual immediacy" mean


I've created a yahoo group called the Sensuous Storytellers Society. I'm just getting it started, and I decided I wanted to write some essays and materials for the group. This is the first one:

What does "sensual immediacy" mean?
It means the compelling experience of the senses in the present moment.

There is nothing more immediate than this. Our bodies are our sensory array. Our bodies provide input to our minds and brains (notice I distinguish between the two) via our senses. Humans come equipped with senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and it is through them that we experience the world, and through them that our mind determines what Reality is.

We have been bombarded since birth by sensory input. Infants sleep so much partly because they need sensory down-time. They need to learn how to sort out the meaning of what their senses are telling them. As we grow older, we learn to filter out sensory 'noise'. Our minds are constantly disregarding signals from the brain. We don't notice the hair touching our ears. We don't hear the pervasive hum of electrical appliances. We don't notice everything in our field of vision. We no longer smell the shampoo in our hair or the cologne we applied this morning, even though others can. But even though our minds become accommodated to certain sensory threshholds, our senses still send those signals to the brain.

In this modern, Western civilization, we live more and more in our heads. We live more and more in a state in which our minds are filtering-out what our senses are telling us. We live in environments we have created to insulate us from noises, from brightness and darkness, scents, and physical discomfort. We sit for hours in front of televisions and computers, experiencing 'reality' through the two senses of sight and hearing, letting our minds simulate the rest. We are growing disconnected from our bodies, from our world.

And with that disconnection from our bodies, we are disconnected from others--there is very little opportunity or interest in genuine intimacy. We come into contact with others, but do we really touch them? Do they really touch us?

I want to re-awaken people to the sensual immediacy of life, to the human expericience of the world. I want to encourage people to bite into a piece of fruit and experience it with all of their senses, and take their time about it. I want to see more people laying in the grass, experiencing the dappled sunlight, the cool, moist air, and the prickle of the blades. I want to encourage couples to lay together face to face, arms and legs entwined, looking into each other's eyes, breathing each other in, knowing what it is to just be with another, and truly experience them.

Sensual immediacy is about the information our senses provide Right Now, and about truly experiencing what our senses tell us, rather than letting our minds filter it out. Being open to the sensual immediacy of life puts us in touch with our bodies and our environment, awakens us to the intimacy of sensual experience, and enhances the quality of our lives. So, knowing what sensual immediacy is, and being able to communicate it somewhat effectively, how can I not try to encourage others to try it for themselves?

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3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

My body is my temple, a sacred vessel, a container for sensory delights, a vehicle for eros divine through sensuous, sensual, sexual immediacy. Alienate your body and you alienate soul and spirit both.

I look forward to sharing.

- SacredTouch

3:29 AM, September 02, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kay, How do I find your Sensuous Storytellers Society page? I can't find it on Yahoo. Maybe it's just me maladroit searching!
Michael

1:30 AM, September 21, 2007  
Blogger Kayar Silkenvoice said...

The Sensuous Storytellers Society yahoo group is at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sensuous-storytellers/

I also have a link to it posted here on my blog.

7:24 AM, September 21, 2007  

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