Some people believe the eyes are a window into a person’s soul.

I believe these people are incorrect.

They may be misguided, but they are still incorrect.

Our souls do not linger somewhere deep and hidden inside of us. Our souls are the essence of our being. We are our souls. Our souls are us. And, we are naked in them every day of our lives in front of ourselves, in front of each other, and in front of the world.

Eyes can be as deceptive as anything else we humans find to manipulate, always contorting to our advantage; there is nothing we can hide behind our eyes contrary to some people’s beliefs. They may not be a window into our souls, they are very telling. Our eyes give away our darkest secrets. They hold our deepest regrets. They give away our true age. Anyone thinking they can shelter their skeletons there will be sorely mistaken. There are those walking among us who can see more of us than could ever dare or hope to, and, perhaps, more than we are comfortable with or want them to.

What do we actually do with our senses?

We explore and experience. We live through our senses. But is that all? My answer is no and it is probably best understood through a brief examination of each. Then it will, perhaps, become a bit clearer.

We observe and gather visual knowledge with our eyes. Vision exposes us to the world around us in an unparalleled way. And, in some way, it is like the culmination of all our other senses. While some of our senses merge and blur lines, there are some things they expose us to that cannot be replicated by any other sense. For example, you cannot experience colour with any of your other senses quite the way do with your eyes. Vision can be such a powerful thing. It can be a dangerous thing.

We have to be careful we do not install too much faith in our senses.

Have you ever heard the phrase I would have to see it to believe it?

What makes that so? And, why would you have to see something to believe it?

Sometimes our sense play tricks on us. Sometimes they are not what they seem. They can be untrustworthy, unreliable. Sometimes our sense are dulled, confused by the presence of other senses, and our emotions. Sometimes our sense, quite simply, get overwhelmed. It is not unreasonable to be upset by this, to become frustrated by it. But, do not succumb to it.

The nervous system is such a complicated, interesting network of stuff; and, while I cannot begin to claim to know anything beyond the general layman’s definition, I think it is a wonderful tool of discovery. Our senses are meant to help guide us, and sometimes warn us.

The sense of smell is a curious thing. And, it is often employed in a number of curious ways.

Our sniffers can tell us many things. They alert us when food goes bad, the dog needs a bath or if someone passes wind…

The sense of smell can bring you back into the light; pull you out of dark places.

The smell of fresh grass and clean air are as incomparable to anything else as they are refreshing.

And, there is more. Our noses can warn us about other people and the world around us. Human beings give off pheromones that other things, like dogs and bees, and other humans, can pick up on using a heightened level of smell.

Smell and taste, they say, often go hand-in-hand, but not always. There are some things we cannot taste if we cannot smell them. And, there are some things that should we smell them that scent will prevent us from tasting, as we tend to avoid things we find off-putting…

Taste is an incredible sense, especially if you like food.

I find taste can also be a marvelous mode of transportation. A trip around the world from the comfort of your dining room table can be quite the experience. Food is a great way to explore places that you may find difficult to get to, places you have never been to but always wanted to go. Taste, like smell, is employed to test the freshness of things at times. However, there are times when it seems the intangible can leave a bad or bitter taste in our mouths and our hearts.

When you put something in your mouth press it against your tongue, you do not just taste, you also touch. You feel what you put in there; your tongue like your skin and appendages can feel different textures. The sense of touch, however, goes far beyond that…

Touch, like the other senses, can alert us – just think about temperature. Touch can also create temperature. There is a kind of touch that can warm you, from the inside out, and there is a kind of touch that can give you frostbite. Need I say more?

All senses are unique and wondrous in their own right, but sound is quite incredible; and, no less remarkable than all that goes with it.

Sound can often explain things no other sense can.

Hearing is in its own individual realm. There is nothing else like it. It is unreal the things we hear, yet even more so are the things we do not. Sound can open your heart the way the warmth of touch can; it can also make you sick, like a bad smell. It can resonate, stay with you long after it has passed, and similar to a bitter taste in your mouth, it can seemingly grow the further you are from the experience.

Sounds can be quiet. They can be loud. And they can be equally painful.

The importance is not the similarities between the senses, much like human beings, the importance is in their differences. The various things our different sense expose us to often cause us to ask the questions that force us to continue the journey of life. They give us the opportunity to interact and investigate the world around us through more than one perspective. We have to teach ourselves to better multi-task with our senses; the more we use them, the better our chances of mastering the skills necessary to properly use them as tools of discovery, no matter whether we possess all of them or not. We must always use what we have not lament what we do not.

The point of having senses is to employ them. For far too long we have ignored the world around us, possibly because we did not know how to connect with it. But, it is more likely that we forgot that we already knew how. All we need to do is round up our sense and rehire them. They have paid their dues, waiting too long in the employment line.

By ignoring our sense we have allowed ourselves to hang in limbo. We have denied ourselves the true breadth of the world.

If we do not give ourselves the permission to truly and completely utilize our sense we will never get all that we can out of them. The senses we have come together and give birth to experience. They also provoke thought. Most importantly, perhaps, they give us cause to test our sixth sense. If we pay more attention to the obvious senses it will – in a roundabout way – bring us back to the core.

And, in doing that, we will be reintroduced once again to our gut and the importance and weight of the feelings it both musters and carries.