The Sixth Sense

THE SIXTH SENSE

“Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.” - Oscar Wilde

There are five senses that we all possess, namely: Sight, Smell, Sound, Touch, Taste. With the help of these senses we live our routine lives. Weakening of any of these senses can create havoc. Let's break these senses down: Sight is obviously through our eyes. Smell is through our nose, Sound through our ears, Touch through our skin & Taste via our tongue. So if a person thinks about them, the sense of touch extends to our whole body.

In 1999, a film by M Night Shyamalan created a staggering euphoria with his 'The Sixth Sense'. Not only did the film won several accolades including several Academy Nominations, but it also mingled with the minds of the audience. Horror-Thriller genre never seemed so alive before, not even at the times of 'The Exorcist'. The audience could easily relate to it as it played with our 'senses'. Whatever so-called 'gift' we possess is put under our 'sixth sense'. Some people claim to possess the sense of fore-seeing one's future by their hands, eyes etc. Some people possess an extra-ordinary sense of smell, sound/sight or taste. An over-powered sense also falls under the 'sixth sense' category.

As the top-most layer of our body is covered by skin, 'touch' sense is always in practice; be it standing, touching, touching oneself etc. Due to gravity & other scientific reasons, without touch, living is not possible. With our eyes we see the world. We can differentiate red from green because of our eyes. Some people possess extremely focussed vision i.e. they can see things far at distance which most of us can't. Through nose we smell thus helping us to either focus or identify an object or our surrounding. Again, extremities are there in our olfactory functions too. Taste helps us in distinguishing food from junk! 

These were the obvious senses but there also exists a sense that we 'feel'. Yes, feeling is our 'sixth sense'. We can empathize with others due to this. We are 'afraid' because we 'feel' something/someone will harm us. And we can also 'feel' when we are being watched. Whenever we 'feel' something that might change our lives extra-ordinarily, the tiny hairs on our back of the neck stand up, at least it feels like it! Our breathing rate increases, we might begin to perspire and that's not it. The rush of adrenaline in our body at that time, makes the whole scenario like we see in a typical horror/mystery/thriller movie. But sometimes just due to a gust of cold wind, they stand up. Try rubbing ice on the back of your neck & you'll know what exactly I mean. This sense helps us to tackle with the situation & 95 / 100 times it turns out that 'there was nothing to panic'. But our body does that in 'self-defense'. Extremists exist in this 'sense' too. But they are not welcomed. If a person is always under impression that he/she is under scrutiny & still nothing proves on, then that person is tagged as a 'psychological' patient. And it is always a 50-50 shot at the odds. But it can also not be denied that due to this 'sixth sense' many lives have been saved by oneself as they became aware of the situation in advance & acted accordingly.

We live our lives due to the combination of these senses. There are fields in which a person may express his/her senses completely like drawing, dancing, drama, writer etc. & once they strike a chord with the audience/viewer/reader, that means you've really 'touched' them from within.

"Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science." - Edwin Powell Hubble 

Survivor

SURVIVOR

"The rhythm of life is intricate but orderly, tenacious but fragile. To keep that in mind is to build the key to survival." - Shirley Hufstedler

Every living organism in the planet is born with the impeccable instinct to survive. Till now there have been ample footage, experiences, witnesses that show how even the tiniest creatures in the world struggle for their survival. This need to survive, in psychological terms, is called Survival Instinct. It translates into fear of annihilation & death. Many believe that this works as a fuel towards our efforts to adapt & hence condition & nurture our surroundings as well as ourselves. The same is the case with human beings. When a person know's that he's living his last breath, he is bound to get nervous & will do whatever 'hope' he thinks he has to survive. The biggest example of this are the terrorists. They know they've no future yet they put on a fight.

These 'survivor' instincts are inborn with the being. Since birth, organisms struggle to survive. Hence, I won't be wrong if I say that Life is the cause for this instinct. Of course, its common sense. Many great philosopher's have quoted regarding the beauty, depth of life but never can 'life' be restricted to just on sentence. To know about Life you need to live one! It is actually a gift & a blessing but like other good things, it also has to come to an end. All living organisms try their best to prolong their stay on earth. Even a thought of 'death' can send a chill through the spine. Obviously, there's more data on human behavior, as we understand our languages, than that compared to animals. But this fact is gradually changing, thanks to National Geographic & Discovery Network's efforts.

Survivor is not limited to just prolonging death, it also relates to surviving what we go through in our lives everyday. A student survives his exams/results, a professional survives his job & in the end thus the earth spins round. But sometime, people get disheartened too easily & end their 'survivor' fight. In the recent months, the rate of suicide has increased dramatically. Why is this? Is it because they had no reason to live further? For Example:[1] When a student fails, the first feeling crossing his/her mind is of suicide. [2] When an in-relation couple break-up after spending some good time, suicide dominates their thoughts. [3] Sometimes people just get fed-up as they had 'been through a lot'. In all these cases, the common criteria for suicide is people losing hope, getting tired of their 'ill-fate' & people not accepting the facts. But once you think about it in depth, all the reasons point to one direction: GIVING UP!!

As I had written above about surviving, the key ingredient to surviving is never giving up. Those who've this feeling in them, survive through the test of time. Afterall life is about finding one's reason, hence that search for 'reason' keeps the men going. I'm not telling that we should 'hope', no, I'm myself not a big supporter of 'hope' but the key to open the doors of survival is never-giving-up. No matter how hard the time is, death is not the solution. People literally kill each other in the quest to survive so how can someone just throw his/her life like that! Whatever the reason is, doesn't add up to the value of your life. Life is precious & as surviving is directly proportional to life, surviving is a major part of our lives.

Death is going to come with all guns blazing, but if we 'never-give-up', we can easily brace ourselves even at the doorsteps of death. Even thinking about giving up is a crime!

I'd like to end this with a quote that might help to keep going on:

“Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.” - Bill Cosby

Happy Fighting :)