Zibby Mag

Book jacket biographies don’t tell us nearly enough about the authors we love. That’s why Zibby Mag launched the Author Snapshot, giving readers an inside look at the lives and work of our favorite writers.

This week we are featuring Gretchen Rubin, the bestselling author of numerous books and one of today’s most influential observers of human nature and happiness. Keep reading for more about Gretchen and her newest book Life in Five Senses (publishing April 18)—and don’t miss the quiz to discover which of your five senses you’ve been neglecting!

What was the impetus behind exploring and writing a book about the five senses? Why did you feel like now was the right time to write Life in Five Senses?

One afternoon, I had an epiphany that changed my life.

Because of a bad case of pink eye, I’d gone to the eye doctor. As I was walking out, he remarked: “Be sure to schedule a check-up. Because you’re extremely nearsighted, you’re more at risk for a detached ret­ina, which could damage your vision.”

I knew nothing about this risk. As I walked home, I realized that it had been a long time since I’d really looked at the New York City streetscape that I loved.

I turned a corner, and in that instant, all my senses seemed to sharpen. It was as if every knob in my brain had suddenly been di­aled to its maximum setting of awareness.

That walk was transcendent, and it showed me a profound truth: I had my one body and its capacities right now, and I wouldn’t have them forever.

Also, for a few years before, I’d noticed that I felt stuck in my head—disconnected from the world and other people, and also from myself. That unforgettable walk helped me discover what I’d been missing: I needed to connect with my five senses.

So I challenged myself to tune in to the sensory world.

In my new book Life in Five Senses, I describe how I studied, explored, and experimented. I knew, of course, that I could have a happy, complete life even if I lost some of my body’s capabilities. My fear was that one day I’d regret everything that I’d ignored.

I experienced the magic of ketchup, tried a sensory deprivation tank, wrote a Tastes Timeline, visited the Metropolitan Museum every day for a year, and more—all to see how tuning in to my five senses could lead me to a happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative life.

Each of us experiences the world with our own particular complement of senses; I could only study myself. Even so, from my small study, I discovered larger truths. I was able to get out of my head and into the world—to find more love, energy, delight, and appreciation for the ordinary moments of life.

What kinds of research did you do for Life in Five Senses, and how long have you been working on this book? I know from following your work that for at least a decade or more you’ve been very interested in perfume. Did that play a part in the inspiration for this book?

For me, my work always starts with reading. I read an enormous amount about the five senses, took notes, and figured out experiments and exercises I could try in my own life to put that information to use.

It’s interesting: I’ve been interested in perfume for more than a decade, I went through a period of being intensely interested in color, I study happiness…all these different threads came together when I realized: “Five senses!”

Many of your books include a lot of your own experiences and self-experimentation. How does your family feel about the things you try and the habits you incorporate into your home and life?

Everyone in my family is very good-natured about the self-experiments I try. Especially for Life in Five Senses, I persuaded my two daughters and my husband to try different experiments with me. At first, my daughters were a bit skeptical, but they quickly realized that these experiments were a lot of fun, so they became eager to join in. We made a non-Newtonian fluid out of cornstarch, tried the bonkers “miracle berry,” played games with smells, made Jiffy Pop popcorn. Even my husband Jamie joined in. We hosted a Tastes Party for friends, and we went to “Dinners in the Dark” together.

From writing Life in Five Senses, I learned that sharing sensory experiences is a great way to draw closer to other people. All these exercises definitely made me feel closer to my family.

What was the most surprising thing you learned while working on this book?

Intellectually, I knew that each of us lives in our own sensory world. But over and over, I was surprised to realize just how different these worlds are! We perceive what our brain decides we need to perceive. It strips out what’s too familiar to bring to our attention and helps us focus on what’s most interesting. My brain tells me what I need to know.

For instance, I can’t smell my home the way a guest smells it. Because of “odor fatigue,” my brain doesn’t bother to report a very familiar smell, like the smell of my own apartment—which explains why some people aren’t aware of an overwhelming smell of air fresheners, incense, or other scents in their home

The same thing is true with sound. I remember when a journalist came to my apartment for an interview, and during the recording, she suddenly stopped, hit pause, and said, “Let’s wait until that’s over.”

“Until what’s over?” I asked, puzzled.

“The siren,” she said. “You don’t hear it?”

I listened. “Now I hear it!”

“It’s funny,” she said. “In New York City, people never hear sirens. In Los Angeles, it’s helicopters.”

A siren sound in New York is so common that my brain doesn’t bother to alert me.

Our upbringing, our genetics, our preferences, our experiences: all these factors mean that we each live in a world of our own. And this is why it’s important to show consideration to people who may be finding a sensory experience unpleasant or overwhelming, even if it feels comfortable to us. We’re each in our own sensory universe.

What are you hoping readers might take away from Life in Five Senses?

I learned that when we tune in to our five senses, the present feels more vivid, because we experience each moment more mindfully—and we also feel more connected to our past. We feel both calmer and more energetic. We have more moments of fun, delight, and awe, because the world is suddenly richer. And perhaps best of all, our five senses can help us pay more attention to the people we love, which can strengthen those bonds.

I hope that people will gain more from the senses that they appreciate the most—and I also hope that people find a way to tap in to senses that they tend to neglect.

To help people figure out their “neglected sense”—which can be hard to recognize in ourselves—I just launched my “What’s Your Neglected Sense?” quiz. People are loving this!

For me, the exploration of the five senses has transformed my life. Every day, I tap into their power to connect me to the people, places, and ordinary moments that I want to experience and remember—and I’ll never take ketchup for granted again.

I hope that reading about my observations and suggestions will have readers jumping from their seats to try for themselves.

What are you most looking forward to after getting this book out in the world? Are you working on anything else?

One result of writing Life in Five Senses was that tuning in to my five senses sparked my creativity a lot—much more than I expected.

In particular, I’m excited to turn to one idea that I had while making one of my daily visits to the Met: to write a book of original aphorisms. I love aphorisms. I started taking notes for it the same day I had the idea, and I can’t wait to turn my attention to it next.