From the Archive Lit Salon on why it feels so damn scary to write through the body, why we're so terrified of what might come up, and five concrete methods to write from the body more safely & vividly
“I think true embodiment, that is, living more fully enough in our bodies right now to bring the body’s experience onto the page, is a radical leap for most of us. Indeed, I believe this is a more radical leap than the leap of allowing our bodies to remember what they remember, to know what they know.” This hit me hard today and gave me an Ah-ha! moment. You have said and demonstrated this many ways but hearing this way and right now made me gasp then let go of a bit of the breath I hold. I unclenched the teeth I grit to move around in this body now. I’ve dreaded the tidal wave waiting for me, but it seems less ominous parsed out this way. I spend a great deal of energy avoiding and *overcoming* the sensation in my feet, knees, and joints. It is just another denial- a pattern for me. And for honesty in my writing and self, it’s the inevitable frontier. Here we go, one step at a time. Thanks for this possibility and for patty-cakes.
I recently thought so intensely about the night I met my wife-to-be that I was able to summon forth an actual physical sensation that allowed me to write about it with precision.
"When we started speaking, there was a pleasant flutter of excitement in my chest, like the feeling I still get when I know I’m about to receive very good news."
"How can we build the lives we want, the lives we imagine for ourselves, without a clear operational system that discerns between what is inside of us and what is outside of us, and how those two realms reflect one another and, in the end, intersect?" I've used the method you described of using the senses to help regulate others and it's amazing how that seems to work so well by identifying what one can sense to help them find the ground again. But the challenge always seems to be when I'm going the opposite direction: internal to external world. Using specific concrete details is such a big key to being able to express the interior to the exterior. You're so right, it makes a big difference in how I write and how I want to continue to write. Thanks, Jeannine.
“I think true embodiment, that is, living more fully enough in our bodies right now to bring the body’s experience onto the page, is a radical leap for most of us. Indeed, I believe this is a more radical leap than the leap of allowing our bodies to remember what they remember, to know what they know.” This hit me hard today and gave me an Ah-ha! moment. You have said and demonstrated this many ways but hearing this way and right now made me gasp then let go of a bit of the breath I hold. I unclenched the teeth I grit to move around in this body now. I’ve dreaded the tidal wave waiting for me, but it seems less ominous parsed out this way. I spend a great deal of energy avoiding and *overcoming* the sensation in my feet, knees, and joints. It is just another denial- a pattern for me. And for honesty in my writing and self, it’s the inevitable frontier. Here we go, one step at a time. Thanks for this possibility and for patty-cakes.
Hi Jeannine,
I recently thought so intensely about the night I met my wife-to-be that I was able to summon forth an actual physical sensation that allowed me to write about it with precision.
"When we started speaking, there was a pleasant flutter of excitement in my chest, like the feeling I still get when I know I’m about to receive very good news."
Here's the post, "You Had Me At A Glance."
https://robertsdavidn.substack.com/p/you-had-me-at-a-glance
Beauty beauty beauty. So much here. Thank you. 🙏🏽
This is pure gold Jeannine, thank you.
Thank you for this detailed and thoughtful answer which helped me too.
"How can we build the lives we want, the lives we imagine for ourselves, without a clear operational system that discerns between what is inside of us and what is outside of us, and how those two realms reflect one another and, in the end, intersect?" I've used the method you described of using the senses to help regulate others and it's amazing how that seems to work so well by identifying what one can sense to help them find the ground again. But the challenge always seems to be when I'm going the opposite direction: internal to external world. Using specific concrete details is such a big key to being able to express the interior to the exterior. You're so right, it makes a big difference in how I write and how I want to continue to write. Thanks, Jeannine.