Most people define the senses as a faculty by which the body perceives an external stimulus or as one of the faculties of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. What most people forget, however, is how love plays an intense role in each of the five senses.

Sight. The simplest sense- one in which your entire world is right in front of you. Imagine seeing him for the first time, your heart swoons and it is as if the sight has projected all the way past your heart right into your stomach. He talks to you and you see him fiddling with his hands- he’s nervous and so are you. You close your eyes and see yourself years down the line being proposed to, travelling, flying- it is all with him. You open your eyes and he stands before you, smiling that smile that has won you over for so long.

Hearing. A replaying of those three words for all of eternity. “In love, in love, in love,” he whispered. You fall asleep resting your head in his lap as he sings to you. You love it when he sings to you, for there is a certain croakiness and warmth that only he possesses. Talking about the world, the future, and all of your plans- it once scared you once you heard it, but now comfort is its only connotation. Hearing is the sense of comfort and reliability. You ask yourself out loud, “Is this it?” and reaffirm yourself by listening to an old voicemail, shaking your head, smiling, and answering “This is it.” You’re seeing your favorite band perform, and as the vibes fill up your body, you lean in and whisper to him, “I love you.”

Taste. The most complicated sense — a reminder of everything that your lips have ever graced. Your first meal with him, whether it was macaroni and cheese, or lobster bisque, you remember it. Every time you eat it, with or without him, memories send your taste buds into a frenzy. But you know that food isn’t the only thing you crave the taste of. Kissing your loved one behind closed doors and never telling. A welcome, a departure, or even after a chicken sandwich, the taste of another remains taboo.

Smell. The kiss that welcomes rain after a hypothetical drought, the sweater of his you wore to sleep, the combination of deodorant and insulin- or something intensely personal. The sweetness of cherry chapstick, the bitterness of morning breath, the warmth of under-blanket snuggles. Think of him and take a deep breath, can you sense his presence? Smell is the sense of imagination, for when you close your eyes and take that breath, you are sent into a frenzy of emotion. You remember your first date, a smell of something sweet fills your nose and your mind, and then you are hit with the present, a boys’ dorm room smell- you smile.

Touch. The most familiar sense- a feeling of being at home and yet a feeling of longing. Do you remember the first time he held your hand, your first hug, your first kiss? Do you remember your last? It is feeling, literal feeling, the kind that pulses through your fingertips and makes you crave more. A longing embrace that portrays security and love. Massages or a simple tracing of the fingers along skin, something that sends the tiny mountains up your spine, a feeling unparalleled. Love in conjunction with touch infuses passion into an already supreme feeling.