#mouthing

The lower part of the face, as well as the mouth, has many more nerve endings than other areas of the body.

*insert nerve picture here*

Why would this area be so sensitive?? You ask. The mouth is the gatekeeper for our future body's existence. It must be able to detect physical things that could harm it and chemicals that could harm it, whether made up of solid objects or airborne particles. It must then pass or veto it in a safe non-harmful manner.

This organ houses three of the five senses, taste, touch, and smell. Children are also limited by their mobility, slowly painstakingly developing the gross motor movement to explore their world via touch. They lift their head, they develop core strength to roll over and sit up, they learn to move about their environment without hurting themselves. Their arms and legs lengthen, their processing and knowledge gained increases. This process really doesn't finish till about two years old, and even then it's still being refined for much longer.

Meanwhile the world is full of crazy shit. Stuff that makes sounds, is colorful, smells, is cold or hot or wet. And your fingers and arms just can't do it justice. Your hands are still curled up and can only open and shut as one motion. Meanwhile your tongue is strong and dexterous enough to handle the complex task of creating suction to breastfeed (or bottlefeed).

Putting a toy to your mouth is like putting on glasses.

We still retain the practice of utilizing this sense via kissing, a practice associated with intimacy (not necessarily romantic - think smelling a fruit). We also have the hardware in our brains to support complex intricate speech that, unless inhibited by circumstances such as Deafness or muteness, is utilized for communication by default.

There are many animals that have a high sense of smell, and also have whiskers. They don't have opposite thumbs designed for using tools. Their mouth is their hands. They lick and sniff and do everything social with them. When they first see a new stimulus, their first reaction to explore it is to put their nose in it.

FUJIKO & BENIKO, intense training

Though this isn’t my video, I made the gifs from it– please respect my terms of use if you repost!  

Mouthing - Self-titled

Zegema Beach Records