Body and Earth – Day 9: Perception

In Olsen’s discussion of perception, she talks about several different ways in which humans and animals have similar perceptions. “For example, human eyes utilize a particular spectrum of light for vision; it is the same spectrum of light that plants use for photosynthesis” and “a bee employs light in the ultraviolet range for navigation – an aspect of light that our eye don’t recognize” (page 56). These are just some of the ways that people are able to become aware and perceive their surroundings. Rather than just one sense being used for perceiving a situation, the senses often work together as “perception is cumulative, generally simultaneous, and necessarily selective” (page 57). While I have often thought of my perception of something as one component, it was interesting to read about the ways in which several different characteristics contribute to our recognition.

Naming the sensory receptors (page 60) allowed me to feel different perceptions that my body was feeling because of how my clothes touched my skin or how my body was connected to the floor. Seeing and being seen (page 60) required that I watch an object for several minutes. The object that I chose was the fish that are sitting on our kitchen counter. It was interesting to watch the fish move throughout their tank and interact with the different objects that are placed in their tank (a little castle and plastic plants). When I began to watch them, though, I could tell they were aware that I was watching them and changed their movements as a result. Using only sight, I had to make “projections”, or assumptions about several different objects during Place visit: Expectation and projection (page 61). I thought this was a very interesting exercise because after reading the chapter, I was tempted to employ other senses in order to get a more accurate picture of what the objects were and how the felt and smelled in addition to what they looked like.

Below are some haikus that I wrote about perception.

Me
Feeling my body
Aware of my surroundings
Quiet dance inside

Sense
Smell, touch, feel, hold, taste
Senses help in realizing
The world around me

Extension
Energy outflow
Seeing beyond my body
Impacted by earth