Creative Write & Play Assignment #4

Monday, June 22, 2009 This is a fun interlude between BIG assignments!

A friend was telling me that she was having a hard time recalling anything from her early childhood, so we discussed different ideas that engage one of the senses. Voila! It seems her memories may be connected to the sensory perception of taste. How about that? And that got me thinking--which of my senses is the dominant key to my memories?

This week spend one day with each of your senses, experience one at a time--smell, taste, touch, sound. First, experience each sense in the present and then go back to the past and your childhood. E.g. When I smell wild roses in bloom, I think about my father who loved the wild roses that grew along the farm road that led to the far pond and fields and orchard. They weren't the wild roses we see these days that are taking over all the old cow pastures and meadows, but fragile briar bushes with deep pink flowers like the flowers on the old-fashioned rose bushes my mother grew, and on from there. Naturally, when you think about one sense some of the other senses will be present as well, especially sight. So leave sight as the last sense that you focus on for this writing exercise. Keep a writing pad or small notebook close to your side.

By the end of the week, you will have spent a day with each of your senses. Which one gave you the most pleasurable memories? Which sense gave you the most vivid recall? Think about how your senses shaped your life experience.

This is a fun, but also challenging assignment. How long can you go before your focus goes right back to the visual? Which sense will you start with? I'm going to spend today with the olfactory. I think the sense of smell is a Gillow trait. I'll keep you posted!

I'm sure some of you are still tracking down memories from school days, so keep scribbling away.