the body knows

"some say the soul informs the body. but what if we were to imagine for a moment that the body informs the soul, helps it adapt to mundane life: parses, translates, gives the blank page, the ink and the pen with which the soul can write upon our lives?

"suppose the body is a god in its own right, a teacher, a mentor, a certified guide? then what?

"is it wise to spend a lifetime chastising this teacher who has so much to give and teach? do we wish to spend a lifetime allowing others to detract from our bodies, judge them, find them wanting? are we strong enough to refute the party line and listen deep, listen true to the body as a powerful and holy being?

"... in the wild psyche, body is understood as a being in its own right, one who loves us, depends on us, one to whom we are sometimes mother, and who sometimes is mother to us."


i started to tell mum about this passage in women who run with the wolves and she cut me off. oh, i never read that at the time. it seemed too fashionable. but if it's any good maybe i'll read it after you.

if i'd read this in 1992, it might have saved me a lot of fuss.