Come to your Senses
For the sake of this journal prompt, Come to your Senses isn’t about being sensible after being foolish. Come to your Senses means bringing every possible sensory detail into a journal piece when you want to thicken the memory so you relive the moment whenever you look back.
If you’re writing a memoir or even a fiction work, dipping into each sensory description brings the reader deeper into your story and involves them in the scene. We have different lived experiences that are called forth when we read someone’s descriptions related to the senses.
Our memories and emotions are ignited.
For example, when I write about my maternal grandfather, the first detail I remember is the fig tree in our backyard in Long Island. He’d lift me up, I’d grab a ripe fig, and we’d eat them.
Now when I bite into a fig, at the first burst of sweetness, I am transported back to that moment. The soft brown exterior and the crunch of the seeds in the red fruit send warmth through my body. I do a little dance and my childlike self beams with joy.
Figs + Grandfather = Warmth
Writing from senses connects us to our lived experiences. You may not like figs so don’t equate that with your grandfather, but maybe the taste of a certain wine gives you that feeling because you often had a Sunday meal with yours.
The sensory details are an invitation to feelings and memory.
Here are some prompts to help you Come to your Senses and write from them.
Visual
Think about the most impactful important moving thing/visual you have ever experienced.
What are the colors, shapes, size, dimensions?
Name its edges, curves, borders
Where is it located/placed/hung/held?
How much space does it take up?
Is it alive, inanimate, imaginary?
What does it remind you of?
What emotions/memories does it bring up?
What else visually describes this.
Auditory
What is the most beautiful sound you’ve heard?
How would you describe it?
What is the tone (quality, mood)?
What is the Pitch (high, low)?
What is the intensity?
How often does it repeat?
How loud or soft?
Where do you feel the sound in your body?
What emotions does it evoke?
Why?
What does it remind you of?
Have you ever heard it before or since?
Olfactory
What is a smell that immediately takes you to an impactful place or moment.
What are the adjectives that describe this smell?
What color does it feel like?
What other scents influence it?
What is the intensity?
Where do you notice the scent the most?
What emotions or feelings does this smell bring up?
How does your body react?
Taste
What have you tasted that reminds you of love. The best food you’ve ever had.
What form is it?
What is the texture
What are the flavors, spices?
How can you describe it so that you feel your tastebuds ignite and your mouth waters.
What is the aftertaste?
What food accompanies it?
Who does it remind you of?
Touch
What have you touched that brings joy to your heart? Reminds you of warmth. Happiness. Tranquility.
What/Who have you touched?
What part of your body connected with it?
What does it feel like physically?
Describe the texture, temperature, vibration, pressure
Size, shape of it?
Why does this bring joy?
Based on what you chose what matters most to you?
What moves you?
How do you look at the world?
What is your way of being with yourself and others?
It’s not always necessary to focus on every sense of the moment. It depends on the audience, what you’re called to write, and how much of the memory you want to put onto paper. Our senses connect us to what makes us human. What we choose to focus on pinpoints to what matters to us most in that memory. What sparked that impactful moment.