I've been up all night, reading long-winded victorian era novels, which I am begining to really enjoy. But, as usual when I've been up all night, all alone, with my head in a book, I've been getting ideas that seem really profound, but which are actually quite obvious and commonplace.
Here is the idea I had last night: The body is the only possesion that is truly yours. It is the only thing, which, as long as you are here on earth, cannot be taken away from you. Everything else can either be stolen, sold, given away or lost, but not the body. As long as you are alive, it is yours. Therefore it is the most personal of all objects, the one which most connects you to the earth, and the one object that one can truly be said to be a part of.
Perhaps this is why sexual abuse is so traumatic, or any kind of physical abuse, for that matter. It violates that which you are most connected to on the earth, that which you most relate to, that which most clearly represents your sense of security in the world. If one is led, through abuse and physical dominance, to feel as though they cannot trust their body, or that their body is not really theirs to control and enjoy, then that, more than any other kind of physical insecurity, will lead one to distrust themselves, to distrust life, and to not feel in control of themselves on the most personal, psychological level. My body is me, and if I cannot control that, then I have no control whatsoever.
It makes me sad when people are led to feel that enjoying their body is bad, or unwholesome in some way. The body is the one thing you have the complete right to do whatever you want with! It's nobody's business how you chose to use it and explore it. Perhaps this is why so many religions have focused on controling and repressing people's enjoyment of their bodies. If they feel as though they don't have the right to do as they wish with their bodies, then they will feel as though they don't have the right to think as they wish, or feel as they wish, or whatever.
I guess this might seem strange to some people, because I'm talking about the body as though it were a possession, and not something completely connected to the soul and the spirit. I think the fact that many people feel absolutely disconnected to their bodies is a good sign that the body is not actually completely one with the soul.
Speaking of weird sexual repression in religion: http://www.jesusoftheweek.com/jesii/319/index.html (so I haven't figured out how to make clever links yet; bite me).
Here is the idea I had last night: The body is the only possesion that is truly yours. It is the only thing, which, as long as you are here on earth, cannot be taken away from you. Everything else can either be stolen, sold, given away or lost, but not the body. As long as you are alive, it is yours. Therefore it is the most personal of all objects, the one which most connects you to the earth, and the one object that one can truly be said to be a part of.
Perhaps this is why sexual abuse is so traumatic, or any kind of physical abuse, for that matter. It violates that which you are most connected to on the earth, that which you most relate to, that which most clearly represents your sense of security in the world. If one is led, through abuse and physical dominance, to feel as though they cannot trust their body, or that their body is not really theirs to control and enjoy, then that, more than any other kind of physical insecurity, will lead one to distrust themselves, to distrust life, and to not feel in control of themselves on the most personal, psychological level. My body is me, and if I cannot control that, then I have no control whatsoever.
It makes me sad when people are led to feel that enjoying their body is bad, or unwholesome in some way. The body is the one thing you have the complete right to do whatever you want with! It's nobody's business how you chose to use it and explore it. Perhaps this is why so many religions have focused on controling and repressing people's enjoyment of their bodies. If they feel as though they don't have the right to do as they wish with their bodies, then they will feel as though they don't have the right to think as they wish, or feel as they wish, or whatever.
I guess this might seem strange to some people, because I'm talking about the body as though it were a possession, and not something completely connected to the soul and the spirit. I think the fact that many people feel absolutely disconnected to their bodies is a good sign that the body is not actually completely one with the soul.
Speaking of weird sexual repression in religion: http://www.jesusoftheweek.com/jesii/319/index.html (so I haven't figured out how to make clever links yet; bite me).
posted by nearfalse | 6:59 AM
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