How do you keep your head above water? Do you have a handrail of support as you traverse these crazy times? Why is it so important to maintain a sense of positivity and perspective?

Bob Dylan said it best with his timeless lyric that “the times, they are a changing.” Indeed they do, and as the old saw says, the only thing constant is change.

Be that as it may, the wilder the whirlpool of world events gets the more we creatures of humanity like to look for something solid to hang onto.

It helps to have an anchor. Some sort of a lifeline. Your own personal Rock of Gibraltar. Or even a weekly newsletter that aims at lifting your spirits instead of just rehashing the drama of the day.

For virtually all of human history, the phrase seeing is believing was pretty darn accurate. But now we have managed to turn that on its head. Now you can simply start with a belief, prompt your AI machine of choice, and presto! Your beliefs are made visible, regardless of how outlandish they may be.

The ability to create your own bespoke reality at the stroke of a key is seductive indeed. Godlike powers at the touch of a button! Will giving that power to the average Internet user or aspiring authoritarians turn out well? That remains to be seen, and like those who came before us, we have a front row seat to history.

You may have recently run across the phrase “touch grass“ in your online travels. That’s usually the advice given to someone when they’re so carried away with their reactions that they appear totally unhinged.

Trite as it may seem, it’s good advice for all of us because it speaks to embodiment. Whether it’s grass, your garden, or the grip of another dancer, there’s much to be said for holding onto the handrail of physical reality. What’s close at hand tends to be reliably authentic.

The corollary is to be careful about the field of energy that you choose to be held in. In the opening lines of The Painted Word, Tom Wolfe compares the feeling of reading the New York Times on a Sunday morning with the sensation of slipping into a warm bath. To read is to share in the consciousness of a writer at a particular point in time.

My reading habits are divided. By day, and on the fly, I can’t help but keep up with the events of the day, (or astute interpretations thereof) via blogs or newsletters such as The Reframe by AR Moxon. If I pick up a book during the daylight hours it tends to be non-fiction, something I can learn from.

I read novels at night. Strictly narrative fiction before I drift off to sleep, every evening without fail. This helps my brain shift into story mode, which segues easily into my dreams. For me, reading is like daily nutrition for my mind. My occasional forays into film are more like mini-vacations into other worlds.

Fiction or not, the feeling of being immersed in a good piece of writing is like being held in the arms of the author. Books, blogs, and magazine articles are like wormholes through space and time into the writer’s psyche and spirit. I don’t want it to perfect, I like it to be real. I want the mood and the mindset to come through loud and clear, warts and all.

Lately I’ve been finding myself partway into an article or a post on one thing or another, only to realize that something feels off. Yes, the facts seem to be there; yes, the point is being made; but it’s a little too polished. The rhythm and syntax seem stamped out of a mold, the attitude a bit too smug and artificial. The message is coming off the assembly line shrink wrapped in plastic — I’m being held in the arms of a robot.

Embodiment works both ways. Your soul and spirit is linked to your physical and informational environment. It’s one thing to touch grass, it’s another to not recognize that it’s Astroturf.

I find solace in the fact that we who have dance in our blood know the importance of embodiment. While the tools to take shortcuts get sharper by the day, remember that the most valuable thing we can offer is what’s authentically embodied within. We bring forward an objective element of humanity into an ever more subjective world.

And with that, I offer you my sincere thanks. My writing may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m committed to bringing you what’s real in me via these words on your screen. I am more than grateful that the majority of you folks on my list actually open up Monday Love and read it!

Thanks for your continued support, much love till next Monday, and keep dancing barefoot in the grass!

Merci et à bientôt!

M+

ML #648

Mark Metz
Monday Love Movement Calendar