Tuesday, May 19, 2015

May 19: Writing Prompt #139-Dulled

You encounter a mysterious man offering you a magic potion that, once sipped, will make one of your senses (sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch) super sharp — but dull the others. Will you sip it, and if so, what sense do you choose?
Hmmm….this is a tough one, but I think I would sip it and the sense I would choose is hearing.  I would do this for a number of reasons. 
1. At my previous place of employment, we had the opportunity to be trained by a parent in working with her child’s cochlear implants.  One of the things she did was bring us the “hearing aid” that was attached to the magnets under the skin near her ears.  We each put them on and listened to the sounds around us…it was AMAZING, not only in the sense of how many sounds are out there that we naturally tune out when we have full capacity in all of our senses, but also in the regard to how our young friend could become totally overwhelmed with all the noise since her hearing sense was so heightened by the implants.  I would like to see what sounds I might hear around me if this sense was heightened all the time, especially when spending time out in nature…maybe it would also help me to know what and when my dog was hearing something that was going to catch his attention, so I could relate to and understand what he was thinking too. J
2.  I tend toward too easily tuning people out…my mind drifts and boom, next thing I know, I have totally missed a whole chunk of the conversation and then I am trying to catch up, but usually, I mess up and ask a question that was just answered. Whoops! Most of the time I don’t realize I am even doing this until it is done.  I have to focus really hard to keep it from happening sometimes.  Maybe if my sense of hearing was super sharp, it would make it harder for me to go into my own internal thoughts and keep me focused on listening to others.  That would be really nice!
3. I think losing even one of your senses, even partially, really causes you to appreciate it even more, so by sipping this potion, it would also be a humbling event, one to learn from and become wiser through the experience. I am always up for things that I know will bring me wisdom. 

 What about you? Would you take a sip? 

No comments: