Frisson In Pink
Frisson, which means “shiver” in French and is pronounced free-sohn, is a new word I learned recently. It's used to describe when your body responds with shivers or chills to some sort of stimuli to one of your senses.
Our family was talking about which of our senses produces frisson most often. For me, it was undoubtedly hearing. There is one line in James Taylor's "Jump Up Behind Me" that gets me every time. It's the harmony and tempo. (Related: You need more James Taylor in your life.)
For the first time that I can remember, I recently had this same sort of response produced by a scene in a movie. Even more strange, it was during a sci-fi movie, which isn't usually my preference. It was a scene of Project Hail Mary and it was so...pink.
I wondered if maybe it was just the giant screen in our air-conditioned home theater. Nope. It also happens when watching on my computer screen.
Maybe it was the momentum of the movie and music? Not that either. I feel the same frisson if I jump straight to that scene and play it on mute.
It was interesting to feel this chill from my sense of vision, which was new for me. Since I'll probably never have the frisson sensation from smell again, perhaps I can experience frisson from taste? How many samplings of crème brûlée will it take? (Seems like a good test to try since creme brûlée might be healthy...)
We Could All Use More Awe
Wherever (or however) frisson arrives, it's awesome to experience.
I enjoyed an article that listed out some of the benefits of feeling awe. It offered the following:
- Awe expands our sense of connection with others
- Awe inspires generosity
- Awe promotes creativity and critical thinking
- Awe calms us down
It goes on to list some places that awe can be found like music, nature, and visual design.
And at least for me, it can be found among the Astrophage of Adrian, roughly 11.9 light-years from Earth.
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