Take a look around you right now. You’re currently in the middle of something. You could be reading this anywhere — your desk, your easy chair, your kitchen table.

But you are also immersed in something, aside from the air you’re breathing. In fact, you might be immersed in a few of these at once. It’s as if you are always in the center of a Venn diagram.

And what are these overlapping elements of which I speak? I’m talking about fields of energy. We all inhabit them, they take many forms, shapes, and sizes, and life is lived where they overlap.

Starting with you — you’re constantly creating one around yourself. Come together with a partner, a family, or a small group of people, and you collectively co-create another one.

Widen your view a bit further to the outside world, and you find yourself inhabiting community structures, social constructs, or political ideologies.

Villages, towns, cities, and countries all somehow embody a certain “vibe“. Walk into someone’s house for the first time and what feels totally novel to you is like water to a goldfish for them.

Perception of any given field of energy boils down to a few things. First, who’s doing the perceiving. The sum total of your life and experiences up to the point you inhabit a new environment is what you bring to the table.

The accumulated artifacts, actions, ideas, and assorted physical and metaphysical energies that have come before you are another. Plus whatever moods or mental states or attributes any fellow humans you’re sharing the space with happen to bring along.

But fields of energy aren’t often defined by a physical boundary or a geographical border. You might belong to some sort of an association that provides support to the work you do. (Dance First, anyone?) You may have a hobby or some sort of shared passion (like puzzling) that gathers enthusiasts together in an online forum of some sort.

Or you could be a Swifty, a Trekkie, or just another dude who can quote every line from The Big Lebowski. The point is, when you drop into that field of energy, it rubs off on you, and you on it.

And therein lies the rub. The smaller the field of energy, the more ability you have to imprint yourself upon it. Larger ones, not so much. As a traveler visiting a foreign country, you are but one in a sea of millions. It’s unlikely that you’re going to make much of an impact on the prevailing norms and customs, (so you may as well just immerse yourself and go with the flow).

At the other end of the scale, things are different. When you’re working with someone one-on-one, or are in the role of teacher or facilitator entrusted with the guidance of a group of individuals, you have the vibe in the palm of your hand. Your every action and interaction leading up to the moment of connection becomes a key ingredient in the field you create.

Every field of energy has a tipping point, around which you can dance. At a certain point you are no longer pushing the river, the river is pushing you. (There’s probably a Zen koan in there somewhere).

Be kind to yourself so that you know when to nope out if the going gets weird. When you bring along some empathy and the best version of yourself, the field will play along and provide you with plentiful positive energy!

Much love till next Monday!

M+

Mark Metz
Director of the Dance First Association
Publisher of Conscious Dancer Magazine