In thinking about this intimate meeting place between somatics and the expressive arts, the metaphor of a key comes to mind. We could think of it as a single doorway through which we can enter or go out into the world. It is as though it is the same door and there are two keys. Our sense of freedom, we could say, is based on being able to come and go at will.
Ultimately, there is a place we know, or have considered which is non-dual, a reality or dimension where there is no difference between inner and outer. Yet here we are with the more quotidian markers that give us a sense of orientation— in and out, up and down, right and left.
Here as we stand one side or the other of our door, we have two keys, one, the somatic key, opens up the inner world, of intero- and proprioception—how we sense ourselves as a discrete being in the world—while at the same time, oddly enough, this heightened awareness, ultimately leads us to a recognition of just how connected we are with everything. As we become aware of our breath, we become aware of the temperature of the air, its scent, the essential nourishment it provides as it enters our nostrils, already communicate deeply into the whole of our consciousness through the olfactory bulb. The very act of bringing awareness to perception has already changed us.
And then, as we approach the door again, this time with the key of expression in our hands and we slip it into the lock... We are responding now to what is present. In expression, we are not just responding to the interoception, the proprioception (which as we have seen is the ground for connection with everything), but we are also, connecting with the whole of what is, beyond ourselves, much like the communication of the nerves, that receive through the dendrites, on through the cell body, and then given certain conditions, send on information (electrical impulses—or in our case, sound, song, movement, drawings, expression) which is then available to the nervous network.
Expression is a form of recognition of the greater intelligence of the whole, of the "field", of our interconnectedness. Priming expression, intelligent responsiveness, makes us all more intelligent as we are part of and participate in this field. As the experiences are refined, the signals are refined, and the dance becomes more precise, more eloquent, harmonious, attuned... This is how we can weave a beautiful social fabric, a community in harmony, a healthy, thriving organism.
And, here is a doorway into a perception that goes beyond our species-centric orientation, because the web of life, is so much more. As the channels of perception are opened up, and the expression (communication) amplifies this refinement, sensitivity, there is a consciousness of the whole—of the concerts of the birds singing in the trees, or flying together through the sky, of the ants making winding trails on the earth, of the kindness of the dogs who attend to the wellbeing of humanity, of trees and plants who feed us their oxygen... their songs, their dances become a part of our own body, of experience.
Within a more species-centric perspective, we can speak about how expression is key to what makes us human. Of how the baby looks up into the caretaker's face for bonding, for belonging, to communicate and develop his or her own "I"ness in the world. The building blocks of who we are is intimately entangled with expression, with call and response of gurgled and cooing sounds, of moving eyes and mouth... all triggers for the "social engagement system", for the "love hormone" oxytocin. This provides a sense of belonging and safety and connection to something beyond ourselves, a context, and a sense of meaning in our particular context.
In this bonding to our context, to our family, our place on the earth, culture, country, region, etc... all that becomes a "marker" for our identity, there is at the same time, a narrowing that occurs, as I get the sounds right for "my" clans language, I abandon other sounds that are viewed as "meaningless". Little or no interest is given to the relatively open experimentation of the infant. Yet somehow, we never forget entirely, this place of drawing outside the cultural lines, this place of open play, this place of inclusion without judgment of right and wrong. And it is from the play that genius is born.
In expressive arts, we talk of range of play, of expanding the range of play. It is on the metaphorical playground, where we experiment with the rules, or throw them out, and make new combinations where innovation happens. And it is precisely the exploration of innovation that keeps us vital, growing, learning—it is here that new synaptic connections are forged. As human beings we need play, experimentation, innovation to remain vital, interested and as a way of learning how to adapt and dance with our environment. And as a way of healing when old synaptic routes (old ways of doing things) are injured or go astray.
Society has always depended on the artists (or the shamen) to keep forging new connections that help the collective intelligence (nervous system) of the whole adapt, grow, meet change. In each of us there is a seed of the artist, of the shamen... they are part of archetypal makeup as human beings. Some of us recognize the call or the call is stronger, more needed, more urgent... and yet I have found in my students that when it is uncovered, this flame begins to glow, it is the alluring, seductive call of the Self, of the soul. This is part and parcel of the human soul and with its love affair with life, love and beauty. Perhaps, more than ever, we all need to learn to hear this calling, to identify that which is calling us forth into beauty. The Navaho's have a healing chant which I paraphrase "I walk in beauty, beauty before me, beauty behind me, beauty above me, beauty below, beauty all around me, beauty within me, I walk in beauty..."
—Lorena Wolfman
