Sunday, February 06, 2011

They are just arms.

A couple weekends ago, I participated in a performance directed by Melissa Watt, called Body, where I held my arms out in the air for twenty minutes. Like this:

Yeah, that was hard, but not as hard as you might imagine. During the performance, I realized that the task of keeping my arms in the air wasn't the struggle. The struggle was dealing with all the emotions that I attached to my arms. I remember a moment thinking: "I've got to keep my arms up! What will happen if I put them down?"

Guess what? Nothing happens when you put your arms down. They are just arms-- just some muscles, bones, blood, and energy. Everything else is just stuff I attached to them--fear, vulnerability, failure, etc.

Noticing that I was the one making it all a big deal, I stopped and focused on my arms. They were hot, shaky, and tired. So, I bent my elbows, wiggled my fingers, and just kept them up. (They weren't even sore the next day!)

Feeling up for the challenge? Give it a whirl. Keep em' up or put em' down....it doesn't matter, because in the end they are just arms.

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