How do you see and experience the world?
Are you really paying attention to all that is going on around you and in the wider world?
Recently I read a book about “Our Twelve Senses” – yes that’s right 12!
We may have been taught that we have five sense
- Sight
- Sound
- Smell
- Taste
- Touch
And some people believe that we have what is known as a sixth sense, referring to an intuitive ability to perceive things beyond. A gut feeling, hunch or premonition.
I have experienced this sixth sense many times, connecting to, feeling and even knowing what was going on for another person or at a deeper level in the world.
I knew for example when my daughter was in labour and when she rang to tell me, I said “I already know”. My sister and I share a similar connection. And I often intuit what is about to happen in the wider world.
Rudolph Steiner, an Austrian philosopher and social reformer believed that children learn with their head, heart and hands and so created an educational curriculum with lots of creativity and art.
In addition to the traditional five senses, Rudolph Steiner believed that we also possess and have access to the following senses:
- Life – our sense of vitality and well-being
- Movement – our sense of spatial orientation and physical activity
- Balance – our sense of equilibrium and spatial awareness
- Warmth – our sense of temperature and its impact
- Language – our sense of communication and expression
- Thinking – our sense of cognition and mental activity
- Ego – our sense of self and individuality
And so, the question is are you really paying attention?
Are you taking in and responding to all the information that is available to you when you think something through, make a decision or take a course of action?
This week I read a post from someone whose mother was an artist and always encouraged him to “Look again”. So often we are in a hurry or overwhelmed with information and so we only get a glimpse of what is being presented to us. But if we stop and look again, we may see and experience a different reality. For example, a tree or a flower develop a greater depth when we stop to explore and appreciate all of the colours, textures, shades and variations that exist.
It is often said that we see the world not as it is, but as we are – filtered through our experiences, biases, fears and comfy groupthink.
And so, we often act without thinking deeply enough or questioning those untouchable beliefs and popular opinions.
Paying attention means looking again, questioning everything, gaining clarity, thinking deeply, differently and dangerously, and acting with courage.
Pay attention to the things you are naturally drawn to.
They are often connected to your path, passion and purpose in life.
Have the courage to follow them.
– Ruben Chavez –
We see the world not as it is but as we are – or, as we are conditioned to see it.
When we open our mouths to describe what we see, we in effect describe ourselves, our perceptions, our paradigms.
– Stephen Covey –