The Physical Body

Honestly, I can't just pick one thing that we've learned about this semester that is my favorite.

I feel like IHUM 260 has taught me how to live a life that is complete and balanced. It's taught me about relationships and people. What makes people work. The things that are important to me. What makes me happy. What drives me. What was it Anaya said? Something about books being a mirror into your own soul? I feel like this class has revealed a window into my soul. I've learned so much and I love all of it. But I've tried to pick a highlight.

I LOVE Latin music and dancing. The story that Professor Mack shared about the visiting guy that had a random Latin girl dance for him and then she left really impressed itself on my mind. Yeah sorry, I can't remember any details cause it was so brief. But it impacted me. I thought a lot about the guy's musings about how sensuality isn't always about sexuality, it's about being alive and cherishing it.

These thoughts created a circle when we started discussing physicality during Bless Me, Ultima and the very physical descriptions by Antonio, as well as the discussion about how our memories are tied up in our physical being. It makes me really, really appreciate my body. I mean, that is why we came to Earth, after all. We came to gain a body. So here's the circle connecting dancing and Bless Me, Ultima's physicality: living is a very physical thing that you have to have a body for. When you're a child it's easier to be aware of it. And I feel that dancing is a celebration of having a body because you're so aware of it. Being alive isn't just about increasing our intellectual capacity and agency and all that, although those are vital, it's about having a body and learning how to control it and enjoy it. Yup, those are my Thanksgiving break musings :) I like it.