Life in Five Senses
by Gretchen Rubin
Prompted by a diagnosis that she might lose her sight, Rubin spends a year attending to her senses: visiting the Met daily, tasting ketchup varieties, making a scent collection, listening deliberately. It is a book about presence and attention through the body, and it is her most personal and least preachy.
Read it if…
you feel numb to daily life and want a sensory way back into it.
Skip it if…
you want research on mindfulness; this is personal experiment.
Three things you will actually use
- The senses are a door to the present.
- Daily rituals of attention beat occasional retreats.
- Notice what you love and do more of it.
Do this first
Pick one sense and attend to it deliberately for a day.
Our verdict
Personal and pleasant.
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