Wander|Wonder : Touch
With the lightest caress of bark on cheek, leaf between fingers, sunshine on shoulders, breezes in hair, I am aligned to the magical, wild, life of the natural world around me.
Here is part three of this little Wander|Wonder series - I hope you are enjoying!
You can read See here and Hear here.
I don’t know why it feels so good to touch a tree.
Maybe because our hands evolved to grasp them.
Maybe because the life within is so different from ours and also exactly the same.
Maybe because it is like touching time, touching soil and sun and seasons of rain.
Maybe it’s love.
~ Jarod K. Anderson (The CryptoNaturalist)
Feel
Our skin is what stands between us and the rest of the world: our protector, washable, waterproof, moldable, seemingly endlessly renewing, a canvas of scars and our life’s roadmaps. Our skin is also our largest organ, complex and complicated. It allows us to feel. That word itself is complicated too, referring initially to the sense of touch, bodily consciousness or sensation, and later evolving to also define an emotional state or reaction, a feeling. I like the way these definitions can be intermingled, how something you touch can feel and also make you feel. We have fine hairs all over our body, except the palms of our hands and soles of our feet, designed to perceive the slightest change in environment - temperature, air movement, surface texture.We could just as easily have had thick fur or feathers like our non human kin. We will think about that a bit more later, but today is going to be a wondrous play with our sense of touch.
Mantra
With the lightest caress of bark on cheek, leaf between fingers, sunshine on shoulders, breezes in hair, I am aligned to the magical, wild, life of the natural world around me.
Wandering
In your wander today, first, notice the two most obvious indicators our skin, (our primary sense of touch or sense of feel), experiences in outdoor environments - 1) the movement of air, and 2) how much of the sun’s rays are touching you. Is there any wind? A light breeze? Or is the air still, calm. Is it humid? How does that feel, on your skin, as the air ‘touches’ your your nose, your lips, your lungs? What is the temperature, according to your skin? Is it warm, hot, cool, freezing cold? Again, close your eyes and let the information from your skin’s reaction to the environment be at the forefront of your observation. (But also, do this safely please - no sunburn or frostbite please!). Wander a little further. What is is your place that you can touch? Leaves, tree bark, grasses, twigs? Approach them with the wonder of an infant who is seeing them for the first time ever - slowly run a finger over them, describe to yourself what they ‘feel like’ - this can be quite hard because we are not given a huge vocabulary around this. Below is a list of 209 words describing things we might touch. Which of these apply to things you can touch outside today?
This is a vocabulary of 209 words for touch from Writers Write
The ABCs of Touch
Abrasive, Ample, Angular
Bald, Barbed, Bendable, Blemished, Blistered, Bloated, Blunt, Bristly, Broken, Bubbly, Bulging, Bulky, Bumpy, Bushy
Caked, Carved, Chafing, Chapped, Chunky, Circular, Clammy, Clean, Coarse, Cold, Cool, Corrugated, Cratered, Crenelated, Crocheted, Cushioned
Damaged, Damp, Dehydrated, Dense, Dented, Dirty, Distended, Distorted, Doughy, Downy, Drenched, Dry, Dusty,
Embossed, Enamelled, Encrusted, Engorged, Engraved, Etched, Even
Fat, Feathery, Filmy, Firm, Flat, Fleecy, Flimsy, Fluffy, Fluted, Fragile, Freezing, Frigid, Frothy, Furry, Fuzzy,
Gelatinous, Glassy, Glazed, Glossy, Glutinous, Gnarled, Gooey, Gossamer, Grainy, Granular, Grating, Gravelly, Greasy, Grimy, Gritty, Grooved, Grubby
Hairy, Hard, Harsh, Hollow, Hot
Icy, Impenetrable, Imprinted, Indented, Inflated, Inlaid, Inscribed, Ironed, Irregular, Itchy
Jagged
Knitted
Layered, Leathery, Level, Limp, Lined, Long-haired, Loose, Luke-warm, Lumpy
Malleable, Metallic, Moist, Mosaic, Mushy
Narrow, Neat
Oily, Ornamented
Padded, Patterned, Pleated, Pliable, Pockmarked, Pointed, Pointy, Polished, Pot-holed, Prickly, Printed, Pulpy
Ragged, Rasping, Razor-sharp, Refined, Ribbed, Ridged, Rigid, Rough, Rubbery, Rusty, Rutted
Sandy, Saturated, Scalding, Scarred, Scored, Scraped, Scratched, Sculptured, Serrated, Shaggy, Sharp-edged, Sheer, Silky, Slick, Slimy, Slippery, Smooth, Soaked, Soapy, Sodden, Soft, Soggy, Soiled, Solid, Sopping, Spiky, Spiny, Spongy, Springy, Steely, Stiff, Sticky, Stubbly, Stuccoed, Sweaty, Swollen, Syrupy
Thick, Thin, Thorny, Throbbing, Tiled, Tough, Tweedy
Unblemished, Unbreakable, Uncomfortable, Uneven, Unyielding
Varnished, Velvety, Veneered, Vibrating, Viscous
Warm, Waterlogged, Wavy, Wet, Wide, Wiry, Withered, Woollen, Woven, Wrinkled
Yielding
Zigzag
Wondering
Today’s journal prompt is to imagine you have something other than your own skin, your own form. First, think about how an animal's fur feels under your hand, how an individual feather feels, or how stroking the head and back of a bird feels to your finders, the soft layers, ruffles. Describe this in as much detail as you can. If you can do it from experience as you write (eg have a dog or cat or other domesticated animal close by that will relish some attention) do so. Once you have described how it feels to touch fur or feathers, now imagine what it would feel like to have them as your own outer layer. Move your body around, imagine wings sprouting from you shoulder blades, how does it feel? Can you make small movements in your back muscles and imagine how that might move your wings around? If you chose fur instead, think about how it might feel to shake vigorously after being in a downpour, the movement dislodging raindrops and feeling deliciously invigorating (I swear dogs seem to smile after doing that great shaking motion)
Sensory observational meditation
Today we continue the observational meditation
Oh, this one is fun! Thinking about the words in the list above, get three natural items and place them in front of you. One at a time, pick them up and observe them by closing your eyes and really feeling them. First, place your whole hand over the item. Then pick them up and use your fingers to explore them. If the item is not sharp or spiky and likely to cause harm, explore how they feel on other areas of skin - your cheek, for example, is much more sensitive to the caress of a feather, but our fingers have evolved to pick up the slightest change in texture of a twig, a flower, the surface of fruit, the miniscule bumps on a rock. What do these feelings, these touch sensations bring up for you? Do your natural items hold special memories for you? If they came from far away, do they hold memories within them that they are willing to share? I have a rock in front of me that was washed up on a local beach, all smooth (or mostly, to the eye) and worn. Rocks are not usual on our beaches, they are long stretches of golden sand. These rocks came to the beach after high and wild seas, from a small island a couple of km off shore that is gradually being worn down, and when I hold it I feel like I can hear the waves, surf crashing, salty, strong.
Tell me all about how your sense filled wanders and wonders are inspiring you - I would love to know!
PS - Paid Subscribers! Tomorrow is my birthday AND my giving day - so look out for the Substack post that has your first special gift. Wild Words will be a series of mini hand held delights that will come to you as a download once a month that you can print out - there is a little sneak peek in the image below. If you are not already a paid subscriber but are keen to collect your Wild Words, sign up today for just $7 a month, or $70 per year, and help support this wild hearted artist too!