Indigenous minds encouraged me to become incredibly aware of all the senses I neglect on a daily basis. I utilize my vision so I can navigate around without crashing into things, and perhaps my nose to know when dinner is ready. But other than this, I neglect all of my senses that I have been blessed with. I believe that we continually deal with a sensory overload that inhibits us from truly appreciating the fine details of our surrounding. It is hard for me to truly appreciate the smell of freshly mown grass when that scent must compete with the smell of a gas lawnmower. It’s difficult to listen to the birds through the traffic noise. It is hard to appreciate the most beautiful things- like breathing. Something amazing happens within me when I take the time to slow down and just breathe. It is hard to remember to appreciate something that we do automatically. Even as I write this, I am totally unaware of the number of breaths I have taken, or how it feels when that air stirs in my lungs. We are so removed from our “indigenous” roots… but what about for those of us that do not have indigenous roots?
I have mixed ideas as to what Sullivan is referring to as “indigenous”. If she is referring to those of native heritage, then this essay could be deconstructed to mean that those of non-indigenous will never be able to connect with nature the same way as those of native decent. However, I choose to believe that by “indigenous” she is referring to our innate senses, our origins (whichever they may be), our roots to nature, and how we have forgotten those.
One Reply to “Sensory Overload”
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I would tend to agree with you that Twotrees means our common human connection to nature. There are so many layers that remove us from that experience. Our clothes, our houses, our cars, our food supply chain. Taking those moments to dig under those layers – the gas smell, the traffic noise – allows for us to really remember something that lives deep within our cells. Our bodies have not forgotten than we belong to nature, even if our minds tell us otherwise.