When we refer to our “common sense”, do we or have we ever stopped to think, what does this entail?
We have five essential senses: the auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile. In other words and most commonly known, we sense by hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling.
If you forget at times these five, do what I have always done to remember: With your thumb (doesn’t matter which hand), touch your ear; index finger follows by touching the closest eye; middle finger proceeds by touching the nose; following that, the ring finger touches the lips (or your tongue, to be most precise, but not the most hygienic suggestion); and finally, with your pinky finger, touch your chin.
Voila! You just identified your five senses!
With the thumb, we are reminded that we hear and thus make understanding of sounds. With the index finger, our sight makes sense of the world around us. From standing still trees to moving cars and trucks, we are able to differ through sight.
The middle finger, touching the nose, points to our sense of smell (I openly wondered in college if “olfactory” suggests the smell of an “old factory”- just a thought). If you know someone who will smell something before deciding to eat it like I do, then you know someone highly reliant on their sense of smell.
The ring finger, imagining to have touched the tongue (unless you really did for the purpose of direct connection), if not, just your mouth, reminds us that we taste at any notion of what is bitter, sweet, salty, savory, or… bleh (I believe “bleh” here would be short for “blasphemy!”). Of course, we can’t forget our pinky finger pointing to our chin or if you sensed it already, we felt our pinky’s touch at the connection of the very term.
Touching reminds me poignantly of the movie, “Mask”. The time where a girl taught Cher’s acting leading role son, who happened to be blind, that cold represented blue and red thus, represented something hot, was a meaningful scene to me because of how this points to seeing beyond seeing. I should then take this opportunity to dissect understanding beyond our common sense.
Definitively, the word, common, as an adjective, is denoted as:
occurring, found, or done often; prevalent.
Interestingly enough, in deeper thought, when someone suggests something is of common sense, does this not suggest what is accepted by the majority? Hence, if someone was to suggest something is common sense, does this not entail someone is merely stating that what sense is accepted is one that is well… common, which then is suggested as to denote, the prevalent way?
Does this not make anyone then to question, well, what is common and whether common universally means the same for all?
My Mama used to tell me to stay away from certain groups or affiliations. She was clearly adamant about her strong beliefs. I respectfully, and so, quietly to myself, questioned her very notions, however.
I eventually came to discover that by listening to as much as you possibly can about other people’s vantage point(s), a wider sense of understanding evolves from within. Mama was simply only passing on what was common sense taught to her.
By sheer chance, I learned early that common doesn’t mean same for all.
Mama must recall those times I sat there as she and Papa went to each other’s wits end about political views and religious perspectives. When in the room, as I grew older, there were times where Papa would ask for my opinion. This was perhaps to break away from any further debate with Mama, but each time I don’t recall ever having a response or solution. I truly just silently submerged myself in their words and by listening to each perspectives, I could get a sense of what each was deeply trying to convey through each of their own strong convictions.
Both sides were remarkably always right in their own ways. Each made perfect sense, to my opinion. Needless to say, given opposing views, there was nothing common about each making sense although both fairly shared rightful sense. Neither would ever be able to convince me one was more common than the other.
From religious to political and because both were into linguistics, to even just basic pragmatics, I sat there and listened. Mama would be quick to end an argument with that swift, what I would like to suggest some of us have come to perfect, death move, suggesting that Papa couldn’t possibly understand her perspective because his family was from the countryside. In our Filipino dialect, taga bukid.
Tonality says it all. Mama’s (closing) statement was not meant to soften the debate, but merely shut it down (once again). Taga bukid here would inadvertently suggest pure ignorance. I would see Papa leaning against his car outside before expressing to me how Mama’s words hurt him (again). As I’ve mentioned before in an earlier writing, however, to my benefit, these debates continued on for years, never tiring itself from resurfacing. As I saw it, neither ever won or lost.
Common sense wins only when those who accept your views side with you. Otherwise, common sense may very well place you on your own island if no one else is able to relate or grant you your rightful stance on views. Still, you remember each time a challenge surfaces to stand your ground. It is in you to sense to be right. This is when that sense part digs deepest when we add that not all senses need be heard, seen, smelled, tasted, or touched.
We may one day have a scientific name (perhaps there already is one to exist) when we suggest a sixth sense. Perhaps it should be called stomach sense or scientifically, the abdominion (n. ab-Daw-min-yun). (I like to make up words to make sense of anything I cannot find the term to explain otherwise. e.g., tangry- tired and angry; teamship- working together as one, etc. *Webster’s Dictionary responded to me in my request for these words to be entered that for any word to get into a dictionary, the word would have to be prevalently used- that common thing, again. So, feel free to spread the words.)
I haven’t been around cats at night for many years now, but if I am correct, to my recollection, I distinctly recall their eyes glowing at night when they looked beyond pitch darkness. You would look to see what the cat heavily was staring directly at, but it would be beyond you to know if there was anything truly there.
I recall dogs we’ve had throughout time (we even had squatter dogs come to our home to stay and they naturally stayed outside entry ways of our home at night in the Philippines). Regardless where I have witnessed one, I still recall how quickly one stands on all fours, ears up, to follow with either a growl, howl, or bark (or, that whatever attitude before presuming to lay itself back down). Even if I were convinced to have heard movement from a distance, there would be nothing for me to see.
Most recently, just this last year, I have taken on the same steps as one of my daughters, by having to succumb to blinders on while sleeping. Just short of five decades living, I discovered that closing at least one of my senses while sleeping places me into deeper rest. Although my own body with blinders on awakes me in the summer time at my deepest rest, I have counted at least four different types of bird calls to wake me in the morning at the break of dawn. I don’t need to take off my blinders. They are like roosters without the crown, having given themselves permission to chirp as if to crow all at once. Their senses tell me it’s morning even without the sight of sunrise.
With blinders still intact over my eyes, I hear myself bid a “good morning” to them just to be polite.
I could go on and on about different animals and my observations and recollections of their sixth sense behaviors, but for many of us, we too, have our own names for this abdominion. (Yes. I dared use the term again.) This eye-glowing, barking, or chirping drive is otherwise known to us as the gut instinct, the sixth sense, or most powerfully denoted, the Holy Spirit, also revered as the divine force, (Oh! Let’s not forget the Star Wars force- both living and cosmic).
Interesting how we sometimes get faded by the many influences and temptations to do otherwise in this world. That common sense thing? Is it not what we’ve been taught to believe as common?
Of all animals put together, should we dare ask ourselves what is truly most common? After all, did we not inherently make sense of our world like all species? Still, regardless of any language we speak, does not our sixth sense, abdominion (3 times is a charm), kick in to still tell us right from wrong? And, if we are not for sure of things, is it not okay to work toward getting it right eventually?
Should a cat never look beyond the premises, a dog never bark, a bird never chirp, in fear of being wrong?
Are we not drawn to follow the force within because it is in our deepest sense, beyond what others may deem as common, this somewhat inexplicable piece of us, where what’s most common to us alone is what makes greatest sense of all to act upon?
May the force be with you. The light, the dark, the balance between the two. I’m hoping there are only two between the three you care to venture. Otherwise, the imprisoned voice of Darth Vader speaks, “You don’t know the power of the dark side. I must obey my master.”
That great power we are given, no matter what you call it, the voice of Uncle Ben would then be heard to remind Spider-Man, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Freedom. One for all. All for One.
Common? Sense?
How far into the light of sense do we risk before it is lost just to feel common?
