whatever i was feeling and i’m pretty sure it was a barbie or some kind of doll. the first thing i felt was her plastic little feet and her stiff pants. her head was much larger than what would be proportional to the rest of her body. her hair was not very soft and pulled back into a stiff ponytail, when i felt her face i could feel the indentations for her eyes and her nose then bumbs for her mouth.

whatever i just felt was smooth and soft, it had a funny texture like lots of rough little fibers that are all together soft, it felt like a pocket and i’m pretty sure it was a protective case that ipods come in. yep thats what it is, its soft so that the ipod wont get scratched.

so i’m thinking for this essay on touch i would really like to write about dancing. but i’m not sure if i can come up with enough to write about since it isn’t really phyical touch, or idk i could make stuff up about it since i really like to write about dancing. i don’t know what kind of essay i’m going to write yet, hopefully i can decide on a topic and pick a kind of essay that it will work well with. or i could write about physical pain, like piercings or all the zillion times i’ve gotten stitches, cause that really sucked. or i could think of a time when i was emotionally hurt, like when my boyfriend cheated on me, but that sounds kinda depressing and like i would be drowning in selfpity which i’m not so maybe i won’t write about that. yeah that negitive touch is way too negative and i don’t wnat to be a negative nancy. mmmm hopefully i can think of some kind of positive touch, when touch helped me or made me feeel good or happy, i still like the dance idea i’m not sure if its right though or if it will work. i started talking about it at the end of my blog. so maybe i could use some of that to get me started writting this essay. in my blog i also talked about massage therapy and empathy, hopefully i can use some of that information in my essay as well because i found it interesting. ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm i hate how i always wait until sunday to write these essays maybe i’ll do it sooner

When I think about touch, the first thing that comes to my mind is physical touch. Touching that is real and concrete, like my fingers touching the keys of the keyboard. Physical touch can have different sensations and emotions attached to it. Touch can make you feel happy, excited, stimulated, even uncomfortable, hurt or scared. A massage makes me feel relaxed but pain makes me feel just the opposite, even though both involve touch.

Touch doesn’t have to be taken so literally either. I can ‘be touched’ by something and ‘keep in touch’ with my friends. Diane Ackerman says that, “We call our emotions feelings, and we care most deeply when something ‘touches’ us” (p 70). Sometimes we can even feel what other people are feeling- this is called empathy.  New Scientist Tech magazine says that people who have good gut instincts for what other people are feeling have a condition called, “Mirror-touch-synaesthesia, it shows they are also especially sensitive to other people’s emotions” (p 14). Something similar to this happens to me when i watch sappy movies. I’m a sucker for movies such as A walk to Remember and the Notebook; I cry everytime I watch them, because i relate to the characters and the emotions they are feeling.

Its amazing how emotional anxiety and distress can manifest themselves in the tensing of the muscles. When I get stressed from being overwhelmed with school work and too many activities, I wake up in the morning with tense and sore muscles.

Massage therapy is being used to treat cancer patients who are in their last stages of the disease. After being massaged, patients who had previously complained of being uncomfortable, agitated, and restless, said they felt soothed, comfortable, calm and peaceful. It was found that massage therapy was effective intervention for pain and sleep disorders, and it helps to bring about relaxation and reduces anxiety (Journal of Palliative Medicine).

I feel most in touch with my sense of touch when i’m dancing. I love how I can feel the music in me, and my feet against the smooth hardwood. Sometimes i feel pain as my shoes rub my feet raw or i push my muscles to their very limit. When I’m dancing i can feel different muscles being worked as one released another contracts. I dance when i need to relax myself. Its the perfect detox to rid my body of overwhelming stress. When i dance i feel carefree, larger than life, exhilarated, and completely empowered and beautiful.

Works Cited:

Ackerman, Diane. A Natural History of the Senses. Vintage Books, 1990

New Scientist Tech. Sense of Touch is Crucial for Empathy. Issue 2609, 23 June 2007.

Liebert, Mary Ann. Journal of Palliative Medicine. Volume 8. Number 5. 2005.

The biggest thing I’ve learned so far in this class is that when I’ve finished writing a first draft, that doesn’t mean I’m done with the essay. On the first two papers that have been returned to me so far, there are many suggestions and comments for consideration to help improve my writing. The rewriting process is somewhat new to me. In high school teachers leave comments and big red pen marks all over the paper, but they also give you a grade and that’s that. So while there may be a need to rewrite something, it would be a lost cause because a grade was already given. I like that in Marlen’s class everything can be rewritten for a better grade. It really encourages the whole of the writing process.

            During this class so far, I’ve gotten away from the way I usually write a paper. Usually I’ll outline it with bullets so I know everything that I want to include. Then I’ll sit down with my outline and write the paper, read over it, then turn it in. For the essays in this class though, I’ve not really known what I want to write about. I know what the topic is and what I have to do, but I’m just never really sure how I’m going to do it. So I just sit down at the computer and start writing. Sometimes I like what I’m coming up with and sometimes I have to scrap it and come back to it later. I find writing this way more enjoyable and not so mechanical.

this scent smells like boy, good smelling boy though. maybe like axe or all that kind of deoderant they use, or it could be the more expensive kind of good cologne. i really like this scent- to me fragrances for guys all smell very similar. i can only tell the difference between certain scents that the guys in my life wear. like i know what scent my dad uses and smells like i think ralph lauren chaps, my little brother wears the stuff from pac sun

it smells like the perfume that mom wears. It smells kind of musky, not really light. i like the scent, its not my favorite i don’t think i would wear it on a regular basis. the fragrance smelled good, but it didn’t really remind me of anything specific or significant. mayble like time in sephora when my friends and i tried on just about every perfume on the wall and this smells like all of them all mixed together.

Sometime smell can be the most forgotten about sense. We only think about it when we actually smell something, either good or bad. We don’t think of our sense of smell as vital either, and I think we could survive without it. (Although I would’n't want to) Using the sense of smell can be enjoyable and not so enjoyable. I really don’t understand why we have to smell things that don’t smell good.  If only the sense of smell could be updated so that we can only smell scents that are pleasant. The only thing I can think of that has a valid reason for smelling bad is a skunk, in its form of self protection. Correct me if i’m wrong- any other ideas?

 I know we do a lot of sub- conscience sniffing also, when we are smelling something and our brain is responding but we just don’t know it. I was surprised to find that “We go about our activities, breathing in and out, as an infinite number of chemical molecules interact subliminally with our odor receptors. Only when an odor irritates or pleases us or acts as a sudden reminder of the past do we pause to take notice.” (Sense of Smell Institute) That makes me wonder what I’m smelling that I’m not noticing. But I guess if my nose decides not to tell me about it, it must not be that important anyway.

Sometimes though, I take my sense of smell for granted. For example, I got a cold yesterday and haven’t really been hungry and whatever I decide to eat just doesn’t taste good at all. This is because my nose is all stuffed up and “our sense of smell is responsible for about 80% of what we taste.” (Sense of Smell Institute) Therefore, whatever I eat seems pretty much bland and tasteless.

I need to correct something I said earlier about there being no good point to smelling things that don’t smell good. I found a very valid reason to smell bad things. “The sense of smell often serves as a first warning signal, alerting us to the smoke of a fire or the odor of a natural gas leak and dangerous fumes.” (NIDCD) So I guess our ability to sniff out those bad odors can be very beneficial and in some cases, could even save lives.

Some people suffer from hyposmia, which means they have less of an ability to detect odors. People who can’t smell at all have anosmia. What a bummer that would be. One group of reseachers found that olfactory dysfunctions can be caused by depression. (The Smell Report) I wonder if that’s where we got the phrase “wake up and smell the roses.” So overall I’m pretty greatful for my sense of smell, some aspects of life could be pretty boring without it. And I wouldn’t give up my ability to smell the not so good scents either, I realize those can be helpful too.

Citations:

The Sense of Smell Institute. The Fragrance Foundation, Research and Education Division. 2008. http://www.senseofsmell.org/

National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Bethesda, MD. 2008. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/smelltaste/smell.asp

Social Issues Research Centre. The Smell Report. Kate Fox, MCM Research. 2008. http://www.sirc.org/publik/smell_human.html

Whats in my mouth right now is gritty on the outside like sugar but the inside is very chewy and sweet. i think its supposed to be a fruity flavor. it kinda tastes tropical, like oranges, and judging by the flavor i think this food would probably be red or orange. its chewy, thick and gummy. its not something i would normally eat. Its chewed and swallowed now and the after taste is funky. its turning bitter, a little bit sour.

it reminds me of something that i would have enjoyed eating when i was a little kid. like the things i would have thrown a fit in the grocery store for. It had a warm taste that stays in my mouth so that i can’t only eat just one.