I understand that when someone says sensual, their first instinct is to talk of sexual pleasure (I mean, same), but there is so much more to the word than just sex. Personally, I find that simple things like the smell of bread, the way a room is lit, and receiving a good back rub can be sensual. Sensuality is all about your senses being gratified and that satisfaction is felt in a physical way within the body.
Aside from physical pleasure, I really relate sensuality to food. I have always been a huge food lover. I love to cook, bake, and eat, and all of those things (especially the eating part) bring me physical satisfaction. Cooking the food tantalizes four of the five senses: touch, hearing, smell, and sight. Once the food that was cooked gets to be eaten, all five senses are at work bringing gratification to the eater. I think the greatest example of food being sensual is in the movie Ratatouille. Remy the rat is squandering around looking for food when he finds a piece of cheese and a strawberry. First, he bites the cheese, and he has a positive reaction. Then he bites the strawberry to which he has a completely different positive reaction. Finally, he takes a bite of both together and BAM! He is in fruit and cheese heaven.
Like Remy, I always want my meals to be a journey. I get so much pleasure physically and emotionally from eating a good meal. Pictured below is a charcuterie board that I made to help lift my sad quarantine spirits after just bring laid off from a job I despised. I know everyone has a different opinion, but you cannot tell me that this cheese plate is NOT sexy! And damn, was it delicious.
Finally, sensuality within lighting. For me, it is all about the gratification you feel when looking at something incredibly beautiful. For instance, the photo below shows an intense sunset I witnessed in Phoenix, Arizona. The colors in the sky are so extremely vibrant, and honestly, seeing this sunset was incredibly cathartic. It felt like a message that a new day is coming, and that is always a hopeful thought, isn't it?
Along with natural lighting, sensual lighting can be created. A candle lit scene is incredibly pleasing to the eye. If you are experiencing something like this in person, it also would heighten your senses. Your sight sense would be lower in this situation because the room is so dark, so you start to rely on what you smell, see, and feel.
All together, sensuality has a broad spectrum that crosses from sexual pleasure to a delicious cheese board to a beautifully candlelit room. It is all about what triggers and tantalizes the senses.
YES JACQUELINE!! The wonderful tastes in a cheeseboard and the Ratatouille visual of blending flavors is immaculate! Also, the Phoenix sunset with the pink tones under the clouds wants to make you sit and think about what the hopeful future can bring next. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for incorporating so many sides to the word. Your excitement about the word and its connotation was wonderful. To me almost everything we do with light is sensual - whether we are trying to create "ugly" looks or beautiful ones, they need to draw the audience in, this in some ways they are all sensual.
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