Blog 4 Relationships between Meaning and Form

OUr discussion of September 22 regarding the senses and associations is something I enjoy doing with my own 8th grade students a few times a year.  I usually always relate it to early memories, but today I realized that it is more than that.  When we talked about certain smells like ones that occur anually in the change of season, I felt a little queasy inside because of my anxiety about school.  The associations attached are both negative and positive.  The smells and sensations about them do not just relate to "things" but also to nature, and evoking of time and space.  Something I didn't share in class was the fact that very shortly after my father passed away, I was certain he had moved in with me for a while.  It was nothing I saw or heard, but it was definitely his scent like in a breeze passing by me now and then, only when I was at home.  I never thought about whether I believed in such things or not, but when it happened, it made me feel safe instead of scared.  We were so close we could finish each other's sentences, yet when he was dying of cancer, I couldn't bare to stay in the room with him for very long.  I just wasn't dealing, and I know he was really disappointed by that.  Then why would he come hang out  with me later?!  I don't  know if it was something I imagined because I felt guilty that I had sort of bailed on him, but it lasted for about 10 weeks and then it was gone.  Buut while he was there, it was great.  I like to think that he was there checking to make sure I was okay!