Sunday, November 27, 2005

Embodiment


What does it mean to embody something? On dictionary.com, this is the given definition of embody:

v 1: represent in bodily form; "He embodies all that is evil wrong with the system"; "The painting substantiates the feelings of the artist" [syn: incarnate, body forth, substantiate] 2: represent, as of a character on stage; "Derek Jacobi was Hamlet" [syn: be, personify] 3: represent or express something abstract in tangible form; "This painting embodies the feelings of the Romantic period"

The definition that most aptly describes the nexus of my point is the third. I am convinced that embodiment is the corporeal representation or expression of the abstract. That is the way that I am trying to live my life. Surely, those with power and privilege as well as money - all of which are unequal and mutually exclusive - embody the essence of the lifestyle that power, privilege, and/or money can afford them. Embodiment is my aunt Mary who, on Monday, pierced her nose. She is a beautiful milk chocolate woman with intense eyes and a soft yet intense voice. At 56, she woke up feeling particularly radical and pierced her nose. She has turned the abstract - a feeling, a mental motivation, a soul stirring - into something concrete.

Embodiment, to me, asks more of us than who or what we want to be. When considering the epitome of embodiment, we are asking ourselves how we will show the world who we are. At the heart of the question, we, as constrained by social conventions and mores, are interrogating what abstract conjurings we have of who we are and what ideal abstractions will we choose to make concrete-observable to the whole world. Moreover, the public consumption of these aspects of our selves become moot. Embodiment delicately rejects social perception in respect of and pursuit of the truer self.

As I reflect on my aunt's boldly bodacious statement of self, I ask myself what do I embody? What do I want to embody? How many selves will I try on and toss out before I come to embody my true self? I look forward to the journey.

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