The Five Senses book and Happier app I mentioned here have been occupying much of my mind lately as I explore how to make the day to day life here in NOLA a little bit happier. Once again I received a prompt, and I am going to explore it here! Identify three textures you enjoy and write them down.
So let’s backtrack a tiny bit. There is a quiz you can take on the Five Senses here to find out your most neglected sense, and mine is touch. The point of this quiz is to let you recognize a sense you rarely tap into, and then find ways to explore it more and incorporate more good sensory experiences using that sense, since it will be low-hanging fruit. I already do a lot of things to enjoy luxurious tastes, beautiful things to look at, good music, nice-smelling candles and bath bubbles. But I don’t think of touch much – and this prompt about it being the most neglected sense has been really interesting. I am learning that I may have some over-sensitivities to touch! This is not something I ever thought about holistically before. But, for example, I never wear shoes. I will take them off as soon as possible. I drive shoeless, when I went to an office I would work shoeless, whenever I have shoes on I have a running commentary in the back of my head that says “shoesshoesshoesshoesshoesshoesshoes” and it drives me a little batty til I take them off. It’s the same with my hair – I find it hard to keep my hair down and on my neck. No matter the length – short or long, I never last a whole day with hair down. It always goes up in a ponytail or messy bun to get it out of my face and stop tickling/brushing against my neck. I am a Princess when it comes to sheets when I sleep . . . I get a little anxious when I get hugs or someone sits close to me (including children) . . . I lose my mind if someone is tapping their foot or wiggling or bouncing the bed/couch and jiggling me. If I’m focused on something and someone touches my shoulder, I jump out of my skin.
So, that’s interesting. I have sensory sensitivity to touch, it would seem. I’m thinking more about what that means, how it intersects with my clinical anxiety and what I can do to minimize those outsized reactions to minor sensory stimulation. How could I be 44 and just realizing this? So funny.
So turning to the prompt – what are three textures I enjoy? I’d say #1 is a hot bubble bath – so hot it hurts to get in. When in the bath, sometimes I’ll wiggle on purpose to feel the water slosh around my skin. That is a sensory feeling I do like quite a lot. #2 is cotton high thread count sheets. I bought some t-shirt sheets and can barely sleep when they’re on the bed – they are scratchy and drive me mad. #3 is sand on my feet – just my feet. I don’t really love it anywhere else. I also love a foot scrub that mimics the feeling of sand, I use those a lot when we take long walks and I need to rejuvenate my feet when it’s over. So it seems that in terms of touch, I enjoy either really harsh intense touch feelings, OR no touch at all. Nothing in between – too tickly. Isn’t that odd?