6 Senses

Let's get deep and talk about our 6 senses. Yes, you read that right. I believe we have 6 not 5 senses. We all have known most of our lives that we have 5 senses that work together to navigate our lives, seeing, touching, tasting hearing, and tasting.

Most everyone is born with those 5 intact and have used them on their very basic level since birth. Seeing and touching, I believe, are the first two that we experience at birth. After 9 months inside the tummys of our mothers we finally are exposed to the touching embrace of the one that gave us life and in turn we connect by the association of that touch to the sight of the one embracing us. 

I won't go too deep into the belief that an infant can hear inside the womb, which I do believe in, but the next thing we start acquiring soon after birth is hearing. We learn to recognize sounds around us, and those are usually focused on the sounds we hear coming from the ones that love us. The sounds of a sung lullaby or laughter when we have done something cute. We learn to associate what we are hearing from those who love us. 

I could go on, but I think you get the picture here that our senses start on a very basic subconscious level. It's all very natural. The subconscious state can be the complexity of our brains that we don't fully understand. The inner being in each of us. This inner being, some can explain it to be the Holy Spirit, God's word and creation, your personal ego, our spirit self, or even scientifically, the neurons firing. However, you want to look at it, I believe we can call it our 6th Sense. It is the place where thought begins. It's our hub for the other 5 senses to collectively come and clock in and get their work orders. It can be the place of moral guidance. 

Let me walk you through how I tend to look at my senses as a group by providing a couple of examples from my own experiences. As a child, I grew up in the sticks on a small chicken farm, and we didn't have much, but I did have a small 10-inch black and white TV that could watch in my room. I didn't use it much unless it was winter because I was usually outside, and really, the only time I watched was Sunday night to watch the Sunday night Disney movie. Now, growing up when and where I did, if it started storming, we had to go around the house and unplug everything that was not necessary to prevent damage to those things if the house was struck by lightning. I was responsible for unplugging my TV whenever this happened. This particular time I was a tad freaked out (won't lie to you I hated storms and still don't like them to this day) because this was a storm that got loud and crazy pretty quick. When I rushed to unplug my TV I just grabbed the cord about 2 inches from the plug and yanked and when I did the cord pulled out from the plug that remained in the outlet and shocked me to the point I fell back on my butt and my hand covered in what i can oly describe as a black soot. I was not burnt, nor was it anything lasting, but it was scary and confusing. When I screamed out when it happened my grandmother came in and made sure I was OK then did what she did best and lectured me on why I should always hold the plug not the cord when unplugging things. It felt like the kind of shock you get if you touch your tongue to a battery. I have never forgotten that. To this day, I will never just pull on an electrical cord; I will always use the plug to unplug anything. 

Now, how does that relate, you ask? Well, you might say that my memory of that keeps me from making the same mistake again, but I believe it's more than that. I can watch other people do the same thing I did with the cord, and my soul just tightens. My soul screams out to stop them; sometimes, I scream out to stop them. My inner being gets tense. Sometimes, if I even try to consider just pulling a cord, there is a small argument between my sense of touch and my soul. My sense of touch sometimes don't remember the feeling because it has faded and will use justification to say it doesn't matter how I unplug it just do the task at hand, whereas my soul that has all the memories stored says don't do that again. My soul has to keep my sense of touch in check. My sense of touch will still only work on a basic level until otherwise be directed.

Another example I have is one that has happened more than once with me and involves my sense of taste. I have had many times in my life when I have thrown up. Many times in my life, I have done that due to my own stupidity. Regardless of why I throw up, I will do everything in my power to not do it when the feeling hits. I believe the taste of throw up is worse than the feeling of needing to throw up. A dear friend of mine for years during our party days would try to convince me that if I would just throw up, I would feel better, but I wanted now part of that. This is a situation where my taste overrides my soul in the argument and something I have worked on as I have grown older. My sense of taste says to my soul that it is too much for it to handle on its basic level. My inner being will rationalize it till the cows come home, but my taste says no way. The tug between the two sense as always been a struggle, but with aging, I have implemented ways to keep both of them happy. I try not to put either of them in the position to have the conflict. I monitor the things I put in my body now so that I don't feel sick to my stomach or I use herbs to calm my stomach if the reason for the upset is out of my control. 

When you begin to understand that our soul, our inner being needs to be considered in everyday life, you can begin to function as a well-oiled machine. You need to connect with your inner being and understand it on its level. Your inner being is your compass. It holds your mistakes and successes. It is your teacher. Your soul knows the rights and wrongs, but it also can't help you if you don't acknowledge it.

When I use my herbal teas or when I'm making my salves and oils, I allow my soul to be heard too so that I can get the best use of those things. I feed my soul with meditation, prayer, and music. I allow myself to listen to the inner being so I can be the best version of me. My soul retains my knowledge of how best to heal myself because it has a direct connection to the other senses. 

When you are eating something the next time or you see a unique flower, or hear a new song on the radio stop and think how it makes your senses feel.