Nothing is as it seems, as it appears to be. The vibrational foundation of universal substance makes a mockery of what we hold to as form. These forms we defend as solid are nothing more than energy oscillating  and masquerading asa thing we can see, touch, and feel. And, it is our senses , our physical design windows into the expanded life, that are in cahoots with this smokescreen. And, rightly so, for now…

I learned long, long ago that the senses have become dumbed down to make sure we can deal with the massive energetic input of this magnificent Earth Plane. Sometimes trucks out on the highway have a governor attached to the engine. It puts a cap on how fast they can go. That is why it sometimes takes a long time when one semi is passing another…I think I can…I think I can. So, what’s the deal with our senses and this collective decision to give us only a part of what is present?

In some ways it is learned behavior that has rambled into becoming our treasured comfort zone, that seemingly desirable little personal prison that keeps more of life out under the supposed  idea that we are better off. Not so, grasshopper! The eyes, ears, taste buds, olfactory sensors, and skin have all taken most of the day off, giving us enough to putz around and “make sense” of the energetic input.

It is only in a substance infused altered state that we begin to see what this thing can really do. Mind altering chemicals allow the senses to open the windows and clean out the fur balls, revealing a dimension of oh so much more sight and sound and sensation. I remember reading that if the senses were uncapped we could hear the sunrise, see into the energetic design of you and me, smell like an animal, taste all the nuances that get passed over, and feel orgasmic much of the time. Sounds like the last time I ingested a psychedelic back in the day.

And wasn’t that the point? Stepping out of the chains to get a taste of what was really the design? And wasn’t that the problem? In the early days when Timothy Leary and Owlsley decided to leave the comforts of home to dance in the arms of the cosmic design it quickly became too much for too many. Many wanted to stay there and become compromised functionally when they returned to normal. What kind of worker bee can you continue to be when you have seen what the Multi-verse is made of?

I remember why I stopped experimenting so long ago. I had this gnawing sense that I could do all of this on my own without the support of a trigger substance that had a mind of its own. The thing that bothered and frightened me was that I could not stop the experience when I was “done”.  Even back in the 70’s when most of the substances were “pure” it was quickly becoming the economic reality that one could make more money by diluting the purity with this and that…which compromised the experience with unpredictable side effects…like being stoned for days. I turned away from that artificial experience in 1977 when I finally got back in body after being in the altered state for six days after smoking one of the new strains of super pot, one called Micanopy Madness…guess I should have known with a name like that.

So, here we are back at the senses. Compromised for convenience they serve to make our moments of living more enriching, as we allow it. And there is the rub. These senses, supposedly five of them, have been loyal servants throughout the incarnation. The moments of living tend to compromise them over time and they start to serve less of their design capacity than what we have decided and believe about the world we prefer to live in. Few stray away from the same ol’ stuff to explore the rich boundaries of what we are capable of…until now.

The Cosmic wisdom has taken off the governor on our sensory engine and is starting to give us a spiraling glimpse of what the oh, so much more really is. It has started with sight because that is the primary sense for most incarnates, relying on it 80% of the time, easily at the expense of the others, which are just as powerful….something we would soon discover if we would just walk down that road. Is it an accident that one who is blinded becomes so expanded in hearing and touch that they tend to navigate the world with much more ease than one would think?

So, again, we arrive at a point of choice? How magnificent do you want this life you live? How much do you really want to experience? Because to enter the conscious doors of the expanded life, one must make the choice to do so. In an initial leap of faith one must take the first step to get more out of life. It ain’t gonna happen without that personal testament to your own self awareness growing up.

Life is rich and you are here to experience its fullness, not just put a toe in the water…otherwise you would not have come. The explorer, the intrepid traveler, the unabashed adventurer, the personal pioneer…they all live within you, ready to hit the road at a breath’s notice. And the only thing barring the door is your hesitation brought on by the misinterpretation of what this life is all about…experience, not compromise, or hesitation, or a litany of pitiful what if’s. It is time to go where you haven’t been since that one incarnation way back when…remember?!

First of all, what do the senses have to do with living in the now, you might ask? Well, they are what will make the now as expansive as it is, literally opening up the doors to the what is. The now moment activates living in the sphere, where all is simultaneously accessible. It is there where the tools come on line to serve you. Sure, the five senses serve you in your moments, but so, too, do the expanded additional senses that we will briefly look at in a moment. You are not a limited being, so, please, stop living like one. Poor me is such a waste of time and space and incarnational momentum. If you want to stand in the expanded moment, then it is through the senses that you will get the lay of the land and find the direction that is calling you.

Remove the veil. That is what you can do to initiate the inner revolution. Let your own inner Toto pull back the curtain to reveal the so much more that you know is there. Play with the senses.

Start with the five: sight, hearing, touch/feel, taste and smell. Each is a gift unexplored. First, as always, open to the idea that there is much more to each and that you are willing to explore and learn about them. Like so many of these Living As If adventures the door opens when we say “yes”.

 Take time to personally focus on and explore each of the five. Start with sight as it is the most obvious one. Spend a minute or two looking at something, I mean, really looking. If it is, indeed, an oscillating ball of energy appearing as a tree, then look for that. Set the intention in motion and simply see what happens. Remember, mind altering drugs only activate the chemicals that are already contained within you. Activate and regulate your own personal trip when you choose.

One minute of looking is only a beginning. If it is a tree you are exploring then look closely. As it is a living oscillating vibratory “form” you will quickly notice that you can pick up the life force. Squint your eyes and turn your head askew and look for evidence. All you are doing is opening doors. Your inquisitiveness, yes, that childlike trait left behind so long ago, is being called back into service. It will deliver in spades…just give it a chance.

Look at the colors of the tree, the limbs, the leaves. Look at the tree with the sun behind it and notice the aura of this living organism. Look at the variety of shapes that it takes to create this precious being. If there is another of the same species nearby then compare the two and look for similarities and differences, common traits and unique expressions. Let the tree deliver to your eyes what it is ready to deliver. Ask for it. Anticipate the delivery of information. Make  it up as you go…Act as if…tell the tree what you see. Make conversation. Treat it with respect and in no time you will have made a friend, a compadre who will be in a special relationship with you from now on.

The enemy of expansion is your devotion to what has been. When a child experiences an object for the first time the sense of wonder is at the forefront. Wonder opens the lens of experience and the child dives into exploration so that they can fully grok the object. They are creating a relationship…that is, until the object is named by a well meaning adult. Naming it quickly replaces the experience of it and from then on it is simply a rose that can be experienced if one chooses to. This goes for all the senses. Refrain from naming and focus more on the experience. Wonder and imagination and play are the dance partners of the senses. Bring them out from the sidelines and engage.

Make a choice to engage each of the senses in these sessions of growing length. The goal is to begin to experience the world as it is, an energetic being that is constantly interfacing with you, giving you an experience to remember. You are inviting life in. There is no more window shopping. You want your hands in the pie from now on.

Turn your focused awareness to hearing. Start to pay attention to that which you ignore or have grown accustomed to. Sound is a part of life. When you were a child, an infant, you provided an audible soundtrack to your moments of living. Your succession of nows were serenaded by your personal symphony, which, in turn, invited the interplay of the all around you to communicate. You can still hear like that if you choose to pay attention. Many, as they have grown older in number, have given in to the collective notion that there is deterioration and have compromised the range of hearing which used to be 20 Hz to 20 kHz until it has lost, temporarily, much of the high range. Life becomes muffled. Sound familiar. This does not have to be so. Sound is all around. Even the annoying sounds are an energetic frequency that has information for you. Dissonant sounds actually arrive to assist in the energetic cleanse of a chakra or two, a cell or three.

Listen to life without and within. Plug up your ears and hear the sounds of your own physical machine. Hear the rumbles of the flow of blood and the pulsing of your own heart engine. Listen to the crackles of bone on bone as you turn your head and break up the calcification that comes from living the same life over and over. The natural world will serenade you if you turn to it. The birds will engage you in conversation. Their song is pitch related and serves your own physical and energetic self, especially when you engage it. Listen to the wind and the sound of the rain on the environment. Listen to running water. Listen to your own sounds of living, the car turning on, the pecking of the keys on the keyboard, the refrigerator hum…on and on, just listen. The music of the spheres is contained in the all that is everything. It is all an improvisational symphony…if you listen.

Even if you hear sounds in your ears, a pitch that has been labeled tinnitus, find the pitch and get the frequency and compare it to the chakras. There might be an incessant call coming from within to bring attention for healing. Listen to the sounds of love, the utterances you make when you are happy, the sounds of frustration. Play with and remember what your own voice can do. Listen to music you love, music you hate. Get inside of it all. Make sound with that voice and see what it does to your mood. Talk to yourself…answer yourself. Talk to the trees and the clouds and the stars and the water and the ants and the bugs and the wooden house and the car and listen for an answer…in other words…live in the expanded now.

The vagus nerve runs through the middle ear and touches every organ in the body. It is primed by the mid range sounds of your own voice. When you converse you are stimulating your own body organs in a cooperative communication dance. Use your voice and bring about a healthier state. Speak the words you have not spoken. Unleash the unsaid and clear your own energetic system. Ride the wave of the succession of nows to find your own home from which to thrive…

Smell is the only sense that is directly in contact with the brain…no nerve pathways, no bones to transfer the sound…just direct information. That is why it is so powerful and so memorable. A familiar smell will manifest when a loved one who has passed on makes a visit. Think of what the smell of break baking and what it does to your own sense of comfort. Think of your favorite smells. Think of the ones you dislike. Call them all up as you take a walk to samell life for the next hour. Pay attention to the smell and what it invokes. Why do you not like a smell? Often unpleasant odors are an energetic warning or an attempt to clear your field. Natural gas is odorless, but the gas company has infused it with a nasty odor to make sure you know when there is a leak in the line. Get to know your own smell. Everyone has their own haunting fragrance. There are subtle smells that accompany arousal, picked up by a partner to enhance and encourage lovemaking. Smell the sweetness of life. Use aromatherapy with essential oils to consciously us their healing capacities. Make your moments pleasant. Pay attention…

How much do you taste life? Where are you with flavor. The taste buds are in tongue but also a part of the upper palettes to engage smell and taste. Tasting is a dance that is pleasant when allowed. What are your favorites? What tastes do you not like? Have you given these more than one chance? P{erhaps they are an aquired thing that will deliver in ways that are outside of your personal norm. Go on a taste binge. Spend some time with what you put in your mouth and see how it may change the longer it is there. Taste life and all of its nuances.Make a moment spicy or sweet or sour or bitter. Combine them all in a never before tasted sauce. Engage some exotic spices and flavors. Try some ethnic culinary delights. Get into Ayurvedic cooking and take a walk ion the wild side. For the longest time food that healthy and good for you was tasteless. I have been at many New Age meccas that were all organic and the food was bland. It did not satisfy on a whole bodied way. Flavor! Yes, flavor! That is life, rich in substance and flavor, nutritious and filling, satisfying, callings you back for a second helping.

Touch, that oh so need experience that indicates that you are alive and loved, cared for, caressed, soothed by the presence of another. Our biggest sense organ is the skin. My oh my, that first feel of the cold water all over when you dive in the pool. The feel of the wind on your face, your hands, your body. The delightful feel of a massage that reminds you of the places that are not touched very much at all. The skin is about pleasure and sensation. It feels the hot and the cold, the hard and the soft, the wet and the dry…it is the land where of nuances. Your hands and your genitals have the greatest number of nerve endings. Do you feel the textures of what is around you? Do you touch life, yourself. Your companions, your world? If not, do so. Take time to touch and be touched. You rubbing your own skin is beautiful. If there is no human companion at night to cuddle up with then buy a bunch of pillows and snuggle up. Get some sating sheets and sleep naked so that you feel it all over…pleasure in the sensation. Notice pain when it arises. It is the calling of your own body, calling for attention and love. Feed and nourish and lubricate your skin. Be wary of sunscreens and substances that are toxic. Your skin absorbs life. Feel it and engage it. Take a touch walk and feel your world around you. In your own house walk around with eyes closed and notice how your sense of touch and direction takes over and navigates you through the bumps.

Give each sense its due for they are all a major part of your own life experience, of making your world a better place.

And beyond the five senses there lie others, many of which have no companion sense organ to rely upon, They are subtle and interface you with the dimensions. Your own sixth sense, as it is called, refers to your intuitive self that knows things that may not be five sense reliably proven. This sense is a major part of our energetic design and is always there. It is not supported by culture, family, and history. In fact, being intuitive is typically mocked by society. Any supernatural powers are cause for alarm to the status quo. Extrasensory perception is considered the act of a charlatan, a shaman, a wacko…please…aren’t you tired of being dumbed down and held prisoner to the collective comfort zone that restricts your full bodied experience of this magnificent earth plane? I sure hope so.

Explore the intuitive world. Start making decisions via your gut, your heart, via the voices in your head. Take the first thought and trust it as guidance by acting upon it. Develop those muscles that lift you out of the limited sensory world of what has been. Expand and grow up and out to engage the ever expanding sphere of life in the now.

Oh, we could talk about other senses and get into the psychic world of the expanded and opened senses if we wanted…but that is for another time. Let’s take the governor off the senses we have and start to live the juicy connected life that celebrates the beauty and the magnificence and the infinite possibility of intentional experience first. The we can look into the next domain…