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Writing From The Body
The body knows.
The body’s desires are often canceled out by the logical and so-called “educated” mind. The body is suspect, in this case, or else it is over-indulged and romanticized. But there is a wisdom in the body if we actually listen to it, a wisdom that can direct us in creating art.
We are commonly socialised to override our instinctual directives and premonitions about things.
We base our judgements on belief, not our natural knowing, and since we’re so out of touch with our natural selves, we falter, we choose the wrong path, we screw up. Artists of any stripe cannot afford to be disconnected from their physical being. You can’t create anything from abstract ideas alone. You need some steam in your locomotive. That steam is supplied by feelings, by intuition, by an instinctive sense of direction. That information, that knowing comes through your body.
When your emotions finish having their say, yes, a certain structure will need to be installed in the piece you’ve created. There may be a lack of rigor in your piece, if in the process of creation you’ve lost your focus in some places. Training and knowledge can step in and clean up or recreate those parts. It has to be said that you will need education in your art to accomplish that task.
