The practice I chose to do was the “Put it on a Table”
one on page 98 of “A Whole New Mind.” Basically, it just asked to choose an
object that was special to me in some way and write about what it reminds me
of, how the object affects my five senses, and finally, to join the two
together and see the connection between the five senses and what I think of
when I see or use it.
The object I picked out was this ornamental lamp.
Instead of real candles inside there are plastic ones that I can turn on and
off. I got it from my violin teacher at one of my last lessons with her.
When I look at the lamp I can remember hearing my
violin teacher say that she hoped I would use it at college for decoration in
my dorm room, and I can remember how her voice sounded when she said she was
going to miss me and that it had been great being my teacher for the last few
years. I remember feeling the lump in my throat when I realized that even the
normal “little things” in my life, like going to violin lessons, were going to
change once I went to college. I remember unpacking after taking all my stuff
out of the car and looking at the little swirl decorations on each edge of the
lamp, and picking it up by the handle on top and setting it down on the dresser
in my new dorm room here at Whitworth. Yes, I remember the smell of the brand
new plastic wrapped object before I unwrapped it and brought it out to use, and
to remember my teacher who taught me so much besides just how to play my violin
better.
Yes, when I think about the lamp, the five senses I
have are memories of a time I will never get back to, but they are a good kind
of sad memory and connect with my memories of what makes this lamp special.
Yes, it looks ordinary, and no one who looks at it
without my background information would care, but I think it is beautiful.

That lamp truly is beautiful, but rather than looking at the lamp as a whole object, what individual components of your lamp stand out to you and how do those components affect your senses? And what in particular did your violin instructor teach you? What makes your relationship with your instructor important enough to share it?
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm seeing this just now!
DeleteWhat I wrote about was the individual components of the lamp, not just it as a whole and then took each of those and connected it to one of my senses. That's all that the assignment had in the book, although I added some extra stuff too.
But I really miss my violin teacher because she not only taught me violin, but really supported me and gave advice and listened to what was going on in my life (especially senior year!).