BEING MARRIED: THE BODY AS ANCHOR AND CONVERSATION PARTNER
By Charles Bowie
I’ve always been fascinated about an aspect our modes of water transport. Barges, tug boats, submarines, sailboats, rigs all have one thing in common. They all have an anchor that connects to the water and prevents them from drifting aimlessly.
My reflection on these amazing instruments of technology led to a shift this past week as I visited the doctor for a yearly evaluation. Sitting there in the cold room, reflecting on water transport, the question of anchorage provoked my senses.
What is my anchor in the world? What connects me to the world and keeps me focused on the aim? In short, it is my body. It is through my body that the world is given. I am connected and rooted in the world through it.
Given these musings I began to reflect on relatedness and entertain the question of the relationship with my body. My body is an amazing entity that is always communicating. It communicates gratitude when I’m feeling alive, perky and great. It communicates something else when I’m not feeling so well; sleeplessness (insomnia), rabid anxiety, knee pain (many of which supersede physical pain and are energy blockages/traps). These are all ways the body attempts to communicate and have a conversation, which are the foundations for any relationship.
As I reflected over my life, on the one hand I felt a deep sense of gratitude that my body is strong and has more wisdom than I could imagine. On the other hand, I felt a deep sense of remorse, as I have neglected it and even abused it at times chasing after images I and ignoring its wisdom. Compassion fell over me as I apologized to that which anchors me and connects me to the world.
These reflections may read as if I’m saying that I have a body. But the reality is I am bodily. As a human being I do not have a body, but I am bodily and everything that that entails – relation, wisdom, communication.
Nice post. The title fooled me but I see the relationship.
Hi Charles…thanks for reminding all of us that, after all, we have and are bodies. Somewhere in the process of considering this, I think it important to recognize that we are also different from our bodies, especially if we are among those who are severely handicapped, or disfigured, or wrongly judged by our lack of having a body that conforms to conventional standards. Think of the man whom the Pope hugged early in his tenure: Vinicio Riva. Still, the general idea that our bodies are with us, and we with our bodies, seems right to me. This is a point where so many in the West turn to Asian traditiions that help people reaquaint themselves with the lived body, and more particularly the intimacy of breathing, as a way of finding God’s breathing. Here’s my own take on it for whatever it’s worth: http://www.jesusjazzbuddhism.org/god-and-zen-meditation-awakening-to-gods-breathing.html. In any case, I appreciate your turning us in this good direction.
PS Here’s the story on Vinicio Riva: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/disfigured-man-speaks-pope-loving-embrace-article-1.1529537.