This Whole Life is an Out Of Body Experience
What is real?
things we do with our physical bodies. Touching, moving.
things I do every day that are real: cooking, drawing, skin time, walking, eating, journaling, coloring
things I sometimes do: singing, dancing, play guitar, gardening, hiking
Maybe this whole life is an out-of-body experience as most of us live it.
It’s safe to live in our heads because our bodies are real real real and we know it.
Eating is one of the only embodied things that a lot of us do. Maybe I run to eating because I crave embodiment so deeply. It is a very safe way to feel something in my body. AND! At the same time, it can be disembodied.
It could be helpful to have an embodiment list. Ideas!
Embodiment List
make a nature mandala
go for a walk in the woods
cook
draw
brush teeth
paint nails
sand feet
rub feet
skin time
staring
play catch
stir something
dig a hole
poop or pee
clap
stomp
yell
pushups
cut toenails
make noise
make butter
sing
dance
play guitar
chainsaw
split wood
run
hike
hammer a nail
till soil
head massage
cut
burn
clench
sand
rub
look
tie knots
bike
hold hands
brush + floss
swim
rub legs
rub hands
rub arms
direct action
walk
shovel snow
knead bread
rip paper
build a fort
build a sandcastle
build a book castle
paint
sit
mold clay
puncture
garden
braid hair
climb tree
put on makeup
tend a fire
jumping jacks
braid thread
make Brigid’s cross
pet an animal
hold a human
cut vegetables
fold things
cut things
scratch
smear
squat
sew
itch
whirl + twirl
It’s frustrating when you want to embody something and don’t know how to yet, like using a table saw. To account for that we can do mockups, trial runs over and over until we feel good and you can even use the trial runs as performance, but so I don’t need to get it right or have so much pressure, we can literally find ways to remove pressure.
I see that in a digital world I can toss out my trial runs REALLY easily; there’s no cost associated with it. But to embody would be to build in the physical world first and transcribe to digital.