Embodiment and Belonging

This Sunday marked a personal milestone in a year where the word unprecedented became ubiquitous: I went to a poolside socially distanced comedy show with friends, making this my first gathering "outside" since lockdown began. You know it’s 2020 when you make a pact with friends to leave if there isn’t enough social distancing. Despite pre-show jitters as non-performers, we had a good time. We could all feel our collective energy lift as we experienced levity together. It was the communal therapy that we needed: a bit of stress relief, a quick lift of our moods, and a lot of relaxation. Sunday reminded me that we used to use and place our physical bodies in ways that now feel unfamiliar after over 210,000 Americans and over 1 million people globally have died from a pandemic that is still raging.

Our bodies and the physical sensations we feel in them make us feel alive. Our body is our first and last home. They can also be a source for doubt and uncertainty about where and how we belong. I've struggled to feel at home in my body throughout my life as an overweight child and adult. I spent years hating my appearance and the physical space that my body occupied, constantly challenged by bratty teenage girls, manipulated media images, and social expectations of how my body should "perform" in public spaces. As we look at the technological shifts over the next decade and the physical and virtual spaces that our bodies inhabit, we have to opportunity to transcend, remix, and recreate our corporeal form in infinite ways that expand belonging.

Read more at https://belonging.substack.com/p/issue-32-embodiment-and-belonging