Sensible or Sensuous?
Nice is the little sister of sh… you know the word. That sentence winds its way through the brainy folds every now and then, whenever I hear or read the word "nice."
Niceties are more devoted to peaceful coexistence, to keeping disruptions at bay.
Sensible, or sensuous?
If something makes sense — at least at the start of a thought — can that first version tip over into the sensuous? And only because the strength of the original thought begins to fade? In German, the suffix ‘-lich’ is used precisely to preserve a small dose of niceness even within a critique. But then how powerfully do words land when that ‘-lich’ is tacked on? Is “roundish” strong enough for those carrying extra weight? Can “officious” still be taken seriously? Or is the word merely superficial?
Hold on, there are still words in the ‘-ly’ camp that strut their strength quite openly. Apparently language transfers some nouns into adjectives without ceremony, dressing them up with that suffix. Quite literally. So from “martial law” comes — well — “martial.” The user-friend becomes user-friendly. Suffering becomes sufferable, ailments make one ailing, and the poor become impoverished. Oha — so by the same logic, the rich become richly? Or merely richly sensuous? In any case, there are continuously and richly more billionaires than ever before.
Sensible or sensuous still stands in the room. The public one. Does “from sense comes sensuous” follow the same logic? Does that really make sense? In actual language use, the word “sensuous” carries a rather different explanation — one that doesn’t name “sense” as its parent at all. The erotic plays the leading role in the sensuous, which makes considerable sense for a life lived with love and pleasure.
When attractiveness makes itself known visually and is taken in through the senses, then things simply become sensuous. Now the sensuous finally makes sense, and it tingles a little. Sensuous pleasure carries no expiry date. For who doesn’t treat themselves to a little contemplative stillness here and there? Some go one or two steps further and devote themselves more closely to the supersensory. That excursion can easily lead into nonsensical paths — but at least the eroticism of travel remains intact.
Whether sense or sensuous — the pleasure is always mine.
