Empathy
"The first thing I want you to do," said Julia, "is give to the rest of the group
the gift of yourself."
We were at her workshop and this was the introduction.
She explained that what we were to do was to express who and what we felt we were to the rest of the group without using words or any other literal
form of communication. We were only allowed to use facial expressions, movement and "body noises" such as stamping feet and clapping. After
each performance, the whole group would be encouraged to discuss how they felt about that person, and what we could do in order to achieve empathy
with their experience of existence.
Each member of the group took their turn and there was lots of lively discussion. Even Julia had a go, and I found her performance both moving
and powerfully erotic, although the others were rather argumentative when I mentioned this.
Then it came to my turn and I gave it all I had. I danced, I crouched, I rolled on the floor and made as much noise as my feet would let me. When I
was finished,
I felt quite exhausted and my face ached from all the faces I'd pulled. Then I waited eagerly for the response.
There was silence for a minute, and then a woman said in a small voice: "Did he
have to get his cock out?"

(19/12/04) All content © www.lifeofbob.com 2004 no reproduction without permission... don't make us come round there...