Sensory adventures

I've got a bit of a weird one... I hate being touched by strangers and I hate loud noises EXCEPT when I go to heavy metal gigs.

I think that for me, it's because I'm very sensitive to touch and sound, but it's not about intensity so much as control. I can't predict what other people are doing in a shop or an office, but I can choose to go into a mosh pit (or not) and I know the music so I know what's coming next. Plus, mosh pits have (unofficial but generally understood) rules about safety and what kind of touching is okay, so I feel like it's safe to be there.

Anyway, despite normally preferring solitude and quiet, I love being compressed into a one-woman black hole while having my ears battered by crunchy guitars.

I would imagine you self stimulate your sight by looking at things. Bright colours, fast moving images, the victoria’s Secret fashion show :p 

I get tester bottles of various aftershaves and perfums and keep rotating them in the day so by the time I go "nose blind" to the first one from the morning I get a new one in the afternoon. :)

I love bright sunlight, and in fact bright lights in general. I hate being in dimly lit rooms.

I have very strong opinions about texture. Peat that has dried out enough to be springy but not boggy is possibly my favourite, although I also like well-maintained tarmac, especially when it's been warmed by the sun, and flagstones.

I don't know if watching a certain genre of shows count as self stimulation. Now I'm wondering how can a person stimulate their sight sense?. I do prefer empty places, my room has the least possible visual cluster in it. I love that. I watch anime a lot too. Some have very well written dialogues.

Am I allowed to buy a new laptop/phone? Because if not, that's absolutely no contest for me, sense of smell is gone. I've never been able to smell very well though. I can't recognise smells and choose foods based on their effect on my digestive system and ability to provide calories/nutrients rather than based on taste.

I see. I like touching textures too but it didn't grow as a vital habit as much as tasting. Or maybe it didn't stand out since touching a tree bark is normal but tasting it isn't much so. I like playing with mud, touching soil and sand the most.

It is touch for me. It's also, unfortunately, a big sensory problem for for me, as touching certain textures is a nightmare, I feel physically ill and revolted, and the reaction can last for minutes.

On the positive side some textures, like polished silver, some pebbles and polished hardwood are delightful to touch. One of my favourite sensory objects is a dress cane dating to 1925. It is made of polished rosewood, has a silver collar and the handle is a sphere of polished amethyst. Pity the fashion for carrying sticks, for those who do not need them for mobility reasons, has died out, otherwise I would hardly leave the house without it. I always want to touch objects in museums and art galleries, however this is frowned upon. A great place for the texture junkie is the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where many pieces are outdoors and touchable.

Ahem. Do you really want a thread about self stimulation <_< ? That said does anime count? I watch a lot. And vTubers which is mostly anime girl streamers. I’ve often got music on in the background especially while working. The rest is my business ;)

Seems like my child-self knew the value of that skill 

A lot of botanists, mycologists and permaculture specialists report tasting soil and learning to identify properties in it.

It seems a good skill to have, especially if looking where to plant something which needs a particular type of soil.

It is smell for me. I love perfumed flowers. I enjoy my local walks past roses and try to plant as many perfumed flowers as possible in my garden, especially near my front door. I am looking forward to the summer perfumes this year as missed a month of it due to losing my sense of smell after Covid.

When I walk outside I often take a deep breath when there are pleasant smells. Sometimes it is just an outdoor smell.

I'm sure they would change their minds if it meant they wouldn't enjoy eating food anymore.  Your whole sensory landscape changes when your smell is interrupted and it has a big effect on mental health.

True. I shouldn't take it for granted.

At least I can smell. It's just it seems to be overwhelming no matter what the smell is. Maybe I just sniff really deeply or something lol XD

I've read something online (nothing strongly referenced tho, could be just online crap) that when a group of young people (up to 22 I guess or so) where asked if they prefer losing one sense or their laptop/phone, bigger percentage of them chose losing smell over losing their laptop/phone 

Do not underestimate what its like to lose the olfactory sense!

I used to like the sound of silence, lol sounds weird put like that but I think we all get it XD 

Anyway I used to but now I've got tinnitus and it's ruined silence for me.

I've got a pair of Sony headphones and they are amazing quality and can block out most loud horrible city sounds so I always carry them with me as their service is invaluable!

The world of sound gives me so much enjoyment and peace so long as it's the right sound.

When I've been suicidal it's helped me through those difficult times which I still face now. Just hearing the ocean is so gentle and melodious for me.

If I had to choose a sense to lose it would be my sense of smell as I'm hyper sensitive to smells and they make me extremely nauseous, even flowers do which is a shame because I love flowers lol.

Oh that would be the jackpot of a sesory adventure. 

I have this issue too. So I listen to earphones for the back streets where it’s quiet then sometimes take them out for the busy roads. Though the right sort of podcast, turned up against said roar doesn’t hurt the ears too badly, so I do preserver at other times. 
 
But sometimes you just need to hear the birds sing and the breeze blow through the leaves and whatnot. Natures music innit