Where's your 'Sense?'

I've never ever been this sick before. But then again, I suppose there are reason why I haven't been getting any better; MCIA is preparing for VIBE (our 3 am practices, unhealthy environment), my schoolwork load, and of course, celebrating myself sick from my 21st birthday. One of my symptoms that really bothered me this time around was that I have seemingly lost my sense of taste and smell. It was intriguing because my nose wasn't stuffed up or anything, I was able to breathe but lost the ability to enjoy the smell of the bathroom after someone has used it, the food I am eating, or to know whether or not the clothes I am wearing have been worn or not because I can't smell the detergent on them.

I seriously feel a little handicapped, but at the same time I feel superior. I can eat so much wasabi! Of course there is that curious little burn in my stomach and throat after I swallow it but for the most part I am not disgusted by it. What also makes eating so interesting is fact that instead of focusing on tasting my food when I eat, I am instead focusing on the texture. In doing so, the texture of the food while in my mouth can help trigger a sensory memory of what the food is supposed to taste like. Although I have to say, my imagination needs some practice; its pretty useless spending money on good food when it all tastes like mushed cardboard. Now that I think about it, I really really miss tasting my food. Yesterday night I had chicken nuggets at the student center and for a slight second, I was able to SMELL the chicken. EUREKA!! I texted my roommate right away and she responded with a bunch of questions like what the object was, who I was with...etc. She actually thinks that its really interesting that all i can experience from eating was texture.

Hopefully I will get better soon. I am totally over this sickness. But with every experience, is a good experience. And I have learned to treasure the smallest things. To be able to taste the sweetness of an apple is a pleasure, to be able to smell something bad can turn out to be an intriguing experience, to be able to smell something to bring back a fond memory is a powerful effect. Never take anything given to you for granted.