Gathering the Creative Goods According to Your Senses (Sight, Sound, Taste, Touch, Smell, and Feeling Sense)
Article Published for The Vital Creative Collection — Written by Casey Balon
Photo by Jasmin Chew
The exact questions I use to engage each of my senses during creative development.
It was a Saturday Morning.
I slipped on my new cargos and cropped navy tank. The pants were light, but the top was a thick cotton (made by Levi’s), and I couldn’t predict if the ribbed material would be breathable or end up sticking to my skin.
It was casually drizzling out, but still warm – not warm enough to wear shorts, but not cool enough to stave off the stickiness of a humid day.
I grabbed my new mules – an elegant praline pair from Poppy Barley I had been eying up for several months – and, somewhat last minute, plucked my rain coat off the rack as I scurried out the door. It used to be my grandfathers (the jacket) and gave the illusion of being water repellant, but likely was not. It was colour-blocked with teal, purple, and black, and the inside was worn white, slightly fragile – a true vintage, as it was.
My mission this afternoon was simple: Welcome the Spark.
I had a piece to write, and it wasn’t coming easy today. While often a valid step in the writing process, pouring myself a third cup of tea wasn’t going to cut it.
I loved my little spot – perched on a stool at our kitchen island. I liked how I could tuck my feet between the second tier and the swivel. I liked how the cast iron felt through my slippers. Yet, I knew what I really needed to do: I was a mere 1000 words in, and it was time to place myself in a more fruitful environment (or experience) to receive creative insights.
It was time to shift my attention and direction, if only a few degrees, in order to work with the vitality that was moving through me or, rather, moving me. On this particular afternoon, I was being beckoned to ‘make myself’ slightly more available, if you will.
I hopped in Pearl, my trusty 2015 Chevy Silverado, selected yesterday’s playlist (entitled “Woman”), started the engine, and flipped on the windshield wipers. I was heading into the city – first to visit Peryton Books on 20th, then to pick up carrots and honey at the farmer’s market, and perhaps last but not least I was going to make a quick stop at my local gluten-free favourite, The Griffin Takeaway, to round out my trip.
On another day, I may have packed my writing gear and tucked myself into the back of City Perks with a cappuccino… but that’s not what my body needed today; I needed a break. A shift in orientation. An opportunity to get out of my mind, and out of the way.
The artist’s invitation.
By the time my feet returned to their cast iron placement in the kitchen, I was primed and clear to write. What my body was asking for was neither a grounding practice nor a journaling session about my inner child’s fears of the page before me. On many days before, that had been true. I had ‘mapped my internal parts’ and taken the ice baths and communed with the gritty beauty of my shadows (and, in full transparency, I would continue to live this lifestyle and do such things), but today was different.
I simply needed to do a little foraging (for the proper movements and ingredients) to fuel my creative vitality – that’s it.
Can I hear the music?
Accessing my Creative Toolkit and understanding how to move creative energy on a particular day, in a particular moment, is one thing. (Certainly, we can write our way to a prolific life. We may be scared while we do it, but we definitely can do it.) Being able to listen with a keen and intuitive ear is another capacity all together.
“[The question] is not: Do you know how to read music? It’s: Can you hear it?”
— Kenneth Branagh as Niels Bohr in the film Oppenheimer, 2023.
When I cannot quite hear it (the music), I bustle around – intuitively shifting gears until I develop the rhythm, locate the pulse of the project, and am able to listen more intimately. Often this means getting still, but (perhaps just as often) what is called for is more dynamic in nature: Motion. Movement.
“What is really needed here?” My body, my heart, and my most inner one each ask the question; in some form of unspoken collaboration, the answers are always revealed.
Gathering the Creative Goods, according to my Senses.
When the answer to “How can I best gather the Creative Goods for this project?” entails grabbing my coat and heading out the door, I love to engage a variety of elements, including my senses, as I get ready.
Inviting in a vibrant current of creative inspiration doesn’t have to be complicated.
My current method for arousing each sense is to inquire with each one.
Here are the Exact Questions I Use:
1. Sight: What colour excites and energizes me the most today? If there were no limitations, what natural landscape would I most like to envision or experience today (ocean waves, mountains, a boreal forest, rolling hills, the Amazon, the Sahara Desert, open prairies, a tranquil lake)?
I incorporate this colour into my wardrobe selection for the day and bring up a photo of my inspired landscape on Pinterest.
2. Sound: What song instantly transports me to an inspired moment in my life?
I play this song as I’m getting ready to leave the house, and then naturally follow the vibe into the next playlist. If music isn’t supportive of my energy that day, then I choose a ‘sound of nature’ track on the Insight Timer app.
3. Taste: What flavour profile, spice, or herb would instantly elevate the moment?
I keep fresh mint, dill, and oregano in-house for an instant taste upgrade. I’ve also been known to have organic ginger chews, herbal tea, and cinnamon gum on hand for a subtle (yet immediate) induction of creative flavour.
4. Smell: What scent immediately transports me to a specific time and place?
I choose a scent that inspires the essence I desire to embue into my writing or creative work that day, and I find a way to surround myself with it. Sometimes I’ll explore the spice or tea section at a local shop. I’ll choose a flower, plant, or bouquet at Bill’s House of Flowers to capture a specific story scene.
5. Touch: Is there a material, texture, or element that captures the energy of the piece (or project) I am working with today?
If it’s a metal, I’ll select the jewelry that holds that particular frequency. If it’s a specific textile, I’ll choose a specific piece of clothing, fabric, or blanket to weave into my day. If it’s an element, I’ll work it into my process – get my hands in the garden, bare feet in the soil, skin in the rain, face in the wind. To work with flame, I’ll opt to light a cleaning-burning woodwick candle.
6. Feeling Sense: What energetic tone, atmosphere, and flow of experience would best fuel the creative work today?
With feeling as my strongest sense in Human Design, this is of ultimate importance to me. Over the past two decades, I have developed the ability to write anywhere and everywhere… but this remains my favourite sense to play with. I’ll often naturally shift as I progress through the various stages of creative development on a project.
Discovering precedes writing.
At times, it is in proper form to write our way into ‘right relationship’ with the current of creative expression… but, more often than not, the highest (deepest) caliber of Creative Goods are gathered and experienced before they are written about; they are discovered by grabbing our coat, engaging our senses, and interfacing with the dynamic melody that is the world.
Listening in this way (with the entirety of our bodies, not only through the connection of our fingertips to keys or pen) is an invitation to let life truly enter – creating space for big love, meaningful creations, and a truly enlivened life.
