Marlene Zweig, Denver, Colorado
I think that I’ve always had a desire to “really taste” life. I wanted to learn how, and to actually “live”, before I died. Of course, I had no idea how to do that but I was determined to find out. For a long time I gathered intellectual ideas, which I found fascinating. But there was this gnawing feeling that I wasn’t getting it, really. I was learning a lot about life but I didn’t feel that I was actually living it. Then, for a time, I threw myself into a lot of activity, hoping that by immersing myself in sheer quantity I would feel alive. But that tack turned out to be taking me even farther away from my goal.
When I began to study Sensory Awareness with Charlotte, I learned how to go about “tasting” an experience. I began to learn that the ability to experience is an art and that it requires development. I felt heartened. This was what I was looking for! But it was clear that it was not going to be easy; that it would take a lot of work. Later, I began to understand that the key was not so much in what I did or in how much I did, but was in the quality with which I approached whatever I did… even simple things like washing the dishes. I learned that to be able to really experience …to taste…holding the hand of a friend was IT! To be able to really receive the touch of that friend’s hand — not just with my hand, but with my entire being — was what it was all about. To be able to really experience a sunset — not just with my eyes — but with my entirety, so that there is a feeling of being touched by that sunset and, yes, fulfilled (or filled full) by it. I felt that I was beginning to live.
So now I know, not with my intellect, what sensitivity is. And it is certainly an art; one worth taking the time and effort to cultivate. I decided, then, that what I wanted to do with my life was to cultivate this very precious art and to share it with others. I’m doing that now. And I will be forever grateful to Charlotte for the understanding and for the very precious path.