Our senses are powerful tools that shape how we experience the world. Based on Gretchen Rubin’s Life in Five Senses, we can deepen our connection to the world by paying more attention to our sensory inputs. Rubin’s journey began with an experiment to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art every day to heighten her awareness of sight, but the pandemic shifted her focus inward. From sight to sound, smell, taste, and touch, each sense reveals a new layer of experience.
Sight, often considered the most dominant sense, is more complicated than we realize. The brain doesn’t just process images; it interprets them based on context. For example, hunger can make us perceive an object more like food, and our brains fill in gaps when visual information is limited, as seen in the viral “blue and gold dress” debate.
Sound is equally important. Rubin shares how city noise contrasts with the tranquility of nature, revealing that even silence has its own kind of “noise.” We often filter out familiar sounds, but by focusing, we can rediscover the beauty in everyday audio experiences, like the rhythmic chopping of vegetables in a kitchen or the soft rustle of a breeze.
Smell and taste are closely linked, and Rubin emphasizes how these senses guide our food choices and evoke strong memories. From the comfort of freshly baked cookies to the sharp tang of certain cheeses, smell can stir emotions and even influence decisions, such as house-buying strategies that involve baking cookies to appeal to potential buyers.
Finally, touch is a more nuanced sense than we often acknowledge. It’s not just about texture but connection. During the pandemic, Rubin realized how much she missed the warmth of a hug or the reassuring pat on the back. The vibrations of a car or the subtle rumble of a phone also engage our sense of touch in ways we don’t consciously recognize.
In the end, Rubin’s exploration of her senses reminds us to immerse ourselves in the world around us, appreciate the little things, and take small steps to be more present. By tuning into the senses, we can enrich our lives and deepen our understanding of the world.
