Touch Tree

Lately I've been pondering this concept of a "touch tree" - technically it's a place you come back to when you are hunting or foraging in the woods. A place you can easily find because it's the tallest or most colorful or whatever unique identifier will guide you back to your spot.

On a more mystical level, it's the place inside ourselves that we come back to in order to calm and ground ourselves. A place within that reminds us that everything will be ok. My "touch tree" has been identifying the world around me through my senses. This month has reminded me that when I am feeling agitated, uncomfortable or veering off the rails, I can stop and ask myself these questions:

• What do I hear right now?

• What can I smell?

• What do I taste?

• What do I see?

• What can I reach out and touch?

Identifying the answers to these questions calms my nervous system, gets me out of my critical brain and into my body. Into this exact moment. Being IN THE MOMENT is crucial to the creative process. Throughout 2024 I am going to be sharing ways that I nurture my creativity - it's going to be so much fun! I hope you have enjoyed this month of SENSE EXPLORATION.

This week we are turning our attention to the sense of Touch.

This week we are turning our attention to the sense of Touch.

Touch is the only sensation that we experience over our entire body! How cool is that?!

• Go somewhere you are permitted to TOUCH EVERYTHING! Wander through a fabric store and run your hands over all the different materials. Which fabric would you like to wrap your body in? Which fabric feels so icky that you would never own anything made from it? Is there a fabric that you feel that activates a memory from your childhood?

• Visit a nursery and touch the plants! I love to walk through a garden or nursery and touch *almost* everything. Some leaves are poky and poisonous so I've learned to avoid those! LOL. I really love the fat fuzzy leaves of some succulents and the leaves that feel like plastic and have big, bumpy veins.

• Are you a touchy-feely person or do you tend to keep your hands to yourself? I enjoy watching how people interact. Some people are reserved and clasp their hands together in a gesture of "don't touch that" and other people are quick to reach out a hand to make contact with the people and things around them. Where do you fall into the touchy-feely category? Do you initiate hugs or hold back? You don't have to touch everyone you meet (hello boundaries!), but touch is powerful in relationships! Hug your people! Hug yourself! If that's too much for you, give someone a high-five!

• Indulge in a massage! Ah, the power of trained touch! There's nothing quite like someone else working knots out of your shoulders and soothing you through targeted pressure points.

Give yourself a pat on the back! We have made it through January! I hope you are feeling excited as we move into a new month!

I'd love to know what your favorite Sense Exploration was this month. Send me an email and let me know. If you missed my Guide to Activate your Creativity through your Five Senses, you can download it here.

Enjoy your week!