The Sensual
When I speak of the sensual, I’m not referring to the gratification of sexual pleasure. I’m talking about the power of the inner senses tuning into thoughts, feelings, mood and atmosphere.
I am interested in the capacity to sense the things that make us feel uncomfortable. Particularly in the interactions between, but not limited to, friends, families and loved ones. In which the feelings of unease that sometimes arise can often communicate something isn’t quite right.
This could easily result in a perception missed or pushed aside, consciously or subconsciously, but conveniently ignored for several reasons. Usually, expressed as “Oh, I’m being paranoid again” or later on, “I knew it, my intuition was right! But I didn’t take any notice…”.
If this rings a bell, so it should. It is a common experience because we are refined sensual beings which is a survival determining level.
The inner-senses are five qualities – intuition, imagination, insight, instinct and inspiration. Experienced in varying levels of intensity and sensitivity, they inform subjective experience and form personal impressions. But thoughts and feelings inevitably differ even towards the same thing or incident, due to our sensual diversity and experience. As is the case of, “I saw it differently from you”, or, “it’s as clear as daylight, but not to others!”.
My interest lies in interpersonal relationships, how they are informed by the senses, and how they impact our perception, in terms of our relationships. Especially, the negative signals they trigger, which we might pick up but often repeatedly dismiss. Only to be possibly met with more challenging difficulties later on.
This inability to act at the point when the senses provide insight is what I want to understand better? Is it just a case of not really grasping what is being presented, until its reoccurrence that brings it into focus. At best of times, withdrawing the individual into an interior diologue , “I knew it….It felt wrong!” , Where confirmation is certain by the means of Insight.
Or, does the failure to act mean we are just simply afraid this or are we just not is not assertive enough?
I’d love to hear what you think and look forward to reading some of your experiences and stories. I’ll be sharing some of my mine over the course of time,
Ulterior
Hey, I noticed that too! When you said “those negative signals which we might pick up but which, we repeatedly dismiss. Only to be met possibly with more challenging difficulties.”
It’s true! When we don’t face stuff on one level, it comes back on a more difficult level. It’s easily noticed on a physical level – like when we eat too much junk an we get spots and if we still eat junk we get fat and if we still eat junk we get clogged arteries! If only we could just listen to the spots it would save us a lot of trouble. But things of the mind and spirit are much more serious.
Thanks for sharing this Lily – it sparks my mind to life. 🙂
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if only we listened to the spots! I just love your style.
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Thanks! Yeah – there are warning signs for pretty much everything if we would care to listen! 🙂
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This is a fascinating topic. The most obvious example of me not acting on the warnings of my gut happened about 15 years ago, when I was newly divorced and my self-esteem was at an all time low, leading me into a year-long, unhealthy rebound relationship. Now, I would never tolerate the behaviors I tolerated then. Thankfully I don’t have to. People have always said that I am calm and mellow, and it’s true that I tend not to react quickly to many situations. It may have started as being shy or fearful as a child, but it may be that I prefer calmness. My natural calmness has been reinforced by being a counselor for 30 years. I find it helpful to sit back and observe, not getting all stewed up about something, but to observe mindfully and objectively, especially in tense interactions. In my personal life, there have been times when I should have said, Hey! cut the crap, or I’m out a here! But now, I’m more likely to say, I’m not comfortable with this and ask for what I want. It takes practice.
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Assertiveness, making known our position while respecting both our rights and those of others, takes serious practice and training, especially in achieving it politely and respectfully as you said ” I’m not comfortable with this” . It is interesting how we’re halted by our own inner obstacles, from making timely and appropriate decisions, to ensure our safety, and yet going against the grain of our survival instinct. A paradox. Many thanks for visiting and your feed back. I like the spirit of Nature in your posts, and the tranquility that imbues it.. that must be your ‘calmness’ . I shall revisit.
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Ps, JoAnna, the topic, I find equally fascinating.
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“I knew it: my intuition was right! But I didn’t take any notice…”. It may well ring a bell!..
It happens a thousand times…….
I loved this post lily…
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It does keep happening . Maybe we are, truly, condemned to repeat our mistakes, and shows how we rarely learn from experience?. Thanks for the comments.
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true…
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I rate this post intuitive,insightful and inspirational. Well written
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Thank you.
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