Living by Feel
Hello All! I hope this finds you so well!
We are in sun again today, and as I hung out our laundry to dry in the sunshine (one of my very favorite activities!), some words came to me: Living by Feel.
Since childhood, this idea of Living by Feel has marked my life. We never called it this, but it was a significant undertone in how I was taught to do everything. Before I say more, how about I define it for you? To me, Living by Feel means sensing with one’s hands, as we take on any task in life. And- it may be more than just sensing with hands. Perhaps it is more about tuning up our sensing skills (all of them) and using these in everyday life. We often talk about Cooking by Feel, Measuring by Feel, etc... But we can more broadly apply these concepts to all aspects of life and simply call it Living by Feel.
One of the earliest lessons I learned, way back, was about making soap. My maternal great grandmother used to make beautiful soap with water, fat/oil, and lye… all by feel. No recipes, no measuring really, it was all truly by feel, and in consideration of the proportions of each ingredient… and… how it all felt in her hands. She taught my mother this incredible skill, which is so very different from highly detailed soap-making instructions and recipes (the things we tend to rely on in this modern time).
I have found myself Living by Feel in so many ways… sensing how much tea (dry leaves) to put in my cup, how much vinegar to splash into a pot of soup (for just the right acid balance), how much olive oil, poured straight from the bottle, roughly equates to the three TBSP called for in a recipe.
Birth is a big one too, a great example of Living by Feel. When allowed to quietly go inward and get instinctive, women Labor by Feel in such a primal and beautiful way. “If I shift my body this way, it will feel better. If I squat this way, the baby will come out more easily”. I have seen this is so many women’s births, and I remember it well from the birth of my own son.
Here’s another example, and it’s a bit of a different thing: Living by Feel also means simply living into your senses. Back to hanging out my laundry: when my hands held the fabric, shook the wrinkles out, folded it over the line, held the wooden clothes pin and clipped it over the fabric and line…. This helped me access a part of myself that I hadn’t been in before. The being present with the cool wet fabric, the hard and rough wood of the pins, the breeze and the sunlight on my skin, the sounds of birds and wind-through-trees… it cleared my mind and I was able to take a breath. Settle. Center. Anchor myself back into the present moment all around and within me.
So, I think Living by Feel is a beckoning, an invitation back to oneself. It invites our senses to open and to anchor us back into the present moment. It invites our instincts and intuition to sharpen, and then to guide us in the next step of whatever we are doing. And sometimes it calms and clears our mind enough to make space for insight, for new thoughts or connections (in our thinking) to happen.
It becomes a practice, this Living by Feel, and a lifestyle. It becomes an opportunity to deepen your trust in yourself, your instincts, intuition, and sensing abilities. I’d say that when we are using these, we are being our most beautifully human selves. When we are Living by Feel, we are more anchored in what it is to be a human living a sensory-rich life. When we are Living by Feel, we are more joyfully alive.
So I wonder: How are you already doing this in your life? How do you know that you are doing it? What does it feel like when you are doing it? And are there ways in which you can invite more Living by Feel into your own daily experience?
In deep gratitude for everything in this sweet life,
Rebecca
* Disclaimer: This likely goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: Everything I write is for educational purposes only. Nothing I write or share can be deemed diagnostic or medical advice. Nothing I write or share can replace your own healthcare providers or your own internal knowing and wisdom. Period. Please seek tailored medical care and advice via your skilled healthcare team whenever you need it.
