You might have noticed that this entry is a little bit late. The day I had planned to be my very tactile day ended up… well not. I kept seeing things I’d normally like to touch but just felt stressed and cranky. I ended up keeping my hands to myself almost all day. At night I wrote up a little entry about my failure, but decided to hold off on posting it the following morning. I knew I was heading north into the U.S. of A. (seriously, Detroit is north of my Canadian city – google it!) and that I wasn’t feeling particularly feelings-y so I decided to see how my day went.
I know! I deviated from the plan!
I’m glad I did.
Check out my Four Day Psychic Sensory Challenge! from the beginning.
My friend ad I decided to take a trip out to Michigan to buy some tickets to the Witches Ball in October, and along the way we hit a bunch of interesting places.
First a real craft store, small and older and independent, where i couldn’t stop touching stones and crystals, string of beads, real feathers and sea shells, and even dunked my hand in a bucket of quartz crystals – just because. Everything felt so interesting. I left feeling happy and excited with a little bit of renewed energy.
Our next stop was Mayflower Bookshop, where new, used, and old books were stacked from floor to ceiling. I ran my fingers along spines, flipped through pages, and ran my hands over thick cotton pages. I picked up crystals and statues. I shook the hand of the really interesting guy who owns it and sat in a literal throne. I left feeling warm and calm and like I could have curled up and just lived inside the store. My hands smelled like books for the rest of the day.
We finally got to our destination, Ferndale, and went inside The Candle Wick Shoppe to grab our tickets and I was so excited. I know this was touching day, but I couldn’t help but notice how much I would have liked to just wander around Ferndale for the day. It’s got good vibes, you know?
The shop was cute and clean and cool and new, the opposite of the store I had just been in, and I loved it. I touched and smelled candles, some of which are old favourites. I checked out herbs and mojo bags and when I got up to the counter I noticed a bowl of smooth quartz crystals and a sign saying to dunk your hand in – I knew I’d been on to something! I laughed with the girl about the coincidence and we talked about how grounding it felt to bury your hand in the cool stones. At The Boston Tea Room across the street (geeze this is starting to sound like a travel guide…) I touched independent and out of print tarot decks, touched salt lamps and books, artwork and jewellery. I left feeling witchy and giddy. I was Stevie Nicks in Michigan – somebody get me a shawl!
From there I touched metal artwork (a rusty metal FASTER! PUSSY CAT! KILL KILL! sign! How cool is that?!), real bones and teeth, an amazing reuben sandwich, and the world’s softest kitten. Everything I touched felt different and made me feel differently. My mood changed a million times throughout the day.
This might have been my favourite day so far. Being able to physically touch and experience something is so different from seeing it online or in pictures. I feel like this is something a lot of people forget now that we use the internet SO much. Days like this remind me why I like to buy things in person, why I like to grow plants myself, why I like to shake someone’s hand when I meet them – it creates a connection and allows you to understand that thing or person in such a different way.
I’m glad I pushed my tactile day back one, I wonder how I knew to do that? Maybe it was more of a sensing day than I thought haha.
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