What’s your most important faculty or ability?
For any actor to begin to lose their ability to understand and express words must be devastating, let alone for a Hollywood star.
You’ve probably heard that Bruce Willis is stepping away from the limelight because of aphasia, a cognitive condition with just those symptoms.
Most of us take our senses and abilities a bit for granted, and so if they are lost or compromised, it comes as a shock and raises many questions.
And like Bruce, as we get older, such changes may be more likely to manifest.
It’s all led me to ask what sense or ability do I value most? What would *iss me off more than anything if it didn’t work so well anymore?
I’m not talking about breathing or thinking or even seeing but the smaller, singular and perhaps very individual things we have and do that makes life more worth living.
For example, to be unable to walk for me would be a significant challenge as I wander freely through the city and country for both refreshment and relaxation.
Another would be to lose my sense of taste, thankfully not affected by long COVID yet, because my allied sense of smell is already pretty ordinary. I need robust flavours like curry and dark beers to titillate my tastebuds, and if there were any change, I wouldn’t taste anything.
This exercise is not an excuse for feeling maudlin but better to appreciate in this present moment our varied abilities to dance, sing, paint, write or whatever.
What do you value most of your senses and abilities, and why?
