Modeling

Feb. 4th, 2010 09:53 pm
bookofmirrors: (Contemplative)
This post is mostly inspired by the mullings-about in my head while I'm actually doing the modeling, but I'm also using it to respond to a request from userinfoPopFiend. I don't think it's exactly what he had in mind, but.......

As you know if you've been reading, I've been doing some modeling for the art students at the local university and the local college. Having now had a whole 3 of these gigs under my belt, I have some thoughts on this.

(By the way, I hope this post inspires some of you. I've been told that most art schools/departments are just about always looking for models. I'm not sure what the criteria are for doing it, but if you're up for this type of experience, I highly recommend it. Keep reading to see why.)

Most of the thoughts I've had have come during the sessions themselves. Most have come from the last two, which required long poses, staying still for 20-30 minutes... something which is WAY harder than it sounds, even for someone with a good amount of Masochism a la Core Energetics. Most have come from the last session, during which I had a lot more sleep, and didn't practically dose off during a couple of the poses. Being still for a prolonged period of time, during which one can't meditate (or at least I can't) tends to make one reflective... or at least it does me....

Anyway... as I hold whatever pose, I have to concentrate (moreso if it's a standing pose) on my balance. I'm forced to pay attention to my body in ways I usually don't, even after all the years of Core. Core was about movement, expression, all in the context of being in one's body, but I find myself more able to concentrate on such things when I'm still. I end up having nothing better to do than feel my body. This is actually a pretty big step for me, since I think, not so long ago, I would have simply daydreamed the time away... at least until the protest of my cramping muscles got too much to ignore. But I specifically take the time now to feel what's going on.

I try to ground, to be sure... notsomuch in an energetic sense, although there is that, too... but in the sense of being firmly planted, of feeling myself in touch with the stability of the ground, the stability of my feet, and all the muscles and bones that hold me up. I can feel the weakness of various parts of my body (most significantly my left ankle), and the strength of both mind and body, holding me rooted to that spot. Granted, as I said before, some of this stems from the masochism - that unique ability of that defense to maintain stillness at all costs, and I admit I draw on that a great deal when I model. This has become therapeutic in a sense, as I can explore what goes on in my mind and body when I consciously tap this "skill" and use it in a productive manner. I can feel the eventual stiffness of the muscles, the trembling that occurs if the pose is held to a breaking point, the cramping that threatens and sometimes breaks through. I allow myself to feel the anger that finally builds up at being "forced" to remain still for so long. In that sense, it's not as therapeutic... in Core, if one reached that "breaking point" (which I rarely did, given my capacity for masochism), the answer was to express it, to burst through it, to express the anger, vocally, bodily, forcefully. Here, though, because I agreed to do so, I can simply sit and seethe quietly, with an as-serene-as-possible look on my face. It allows me to explore mentally the process, which isn't a bad thing, even though I know it's not the most useful thing. Of course, I move about between poses, stretching and twisting... but I'm pretty sure that art classes aren't the place for the types of vocal outbursts Core is famous for. :)

By the time I'm done with any given (long) pose, I'm usually in an extremely contemplative headspace, having gone pretty deep into my body, and having gone pretty deep into my emotional reactions. And it's from this space that the second interesting (well, to me, anyway) phase of modeling kicks in.

I can then see what people have drawn. It's so very interesting to see myself reflected in other people's eyes, through other people's art. I certainly have to credit userinfoWalkingBear with a great deal of this. It's due to him I even thought about doing this to begin with, after spending some hours on the other side of his lens. (NSFW!) It's through him that I was able to see my own beauty, in spite of the extra pounds I carry. It's not that I haven't always been a reasonably confident person in general... but he allowed me to see in myself what he saw, and what others have subsequently seen. He showed me myself. So, when I look at what's been drawn, I focus less on the folds of fat that are depicted, and more on the whole... and the whole is beautiful to me. Certainly, I'm learning to eat better, and certainly I'm losing weight, albeit slowly. And that's a good thing, for a lot of reasons. But it's not because I'm not already beautiful.

That's something that modeling, whether it be for userinfoWalkingBear, or any other other people who've taken my picture and/or painted me, has shown me. Something that every admirer and/or lover I've ever had has given me. The knowledge - the gnosis - that I'm already beautiful, in spite of, or maybe even because of, the shape of the body I inhabit. My sincere thanks to all of you, who have shown by your art, your words, your actions, and your attitudes, how I delight you, and how I should delight myself.

(Edited to add hyperlink.)
bookofmirrors: (Mirror Mirror)
FREE CLASS AT PAM CHUBBUCK'S OFFICE

Sat May 2 at 1 - 3 PM

Yoga-Energetics

with

Jannine Roads

Yoga Instructor of 17 years

5th Year Core Energetics Student

Jannine says,"Come stretch, play, breathe deeply!

Wear comfortable clothes, bring water, Yoga mat if you have one

(don't worry if you don't) and come with an open mind!"

Pam Chubbuck PhD will be there to talk with participants after the class.

Hope to see you on Saturday! Please tell your friends! Thanks!



Best always, Pam





PS Mark your calendars! For Sat June 6th Free class

with Pam Chubbuck

Introduction to The Pathwork:

The Spiritual Foundation of Core Energetics

& Lecture Study & Dancing!



Pamela L Chubbuck PhD Director, Core Energetics South 8733 Lake Drive Snellville Georgia 30039 Phone 770-388-0086 www.core-energetics-south.com
bookofmirrors: (Aura)
This way late, a product of my error, not Pam's...

A Tribute to John C. Pierrakos MD )
bookofmirrors: (Default)
I actually got this a few weeks back... I'm just late posting it.

Newsletter - December 2005 )

Core/Dream

Sep. 10th, 2005 07:54 pm
bookofmirrors: (Sandman)
So, I had my Core process group today, the first in several months, since we've been off for summer vacation. We have a new member, who I like by sight (one of those people that styles her hair and dresses just quirkily enough that I assume she's cool and interesting). Of course, we spent most of our time going around the circle, saying what's been going on in our lives since we last saw each other. My synopsis talked about the financial problems we're having, how difficult it is, and the health problems I've been having, which have caused me to cut back on the work I do, which is only going to make the financial stuff worse; how [personal profile] lunenoire is getting his much-needed surgeries (he's doing great today, by the way), but the consequence of that is that he's only receiving a part of his usual paycheck (although he's already assured me that he'll still be able to cover those things that would affect me. Sad that I have to be that ego-centric about it, but there it is. I've been having chest pains on an almost daily basis, so I think I can get away with a little egocentrism. (Although, now that I think of it, none since my PDH session...)

Anyway, Pam decided that I needed to do some work around this area, with [personal profile] blckwngdorcl not having a job, and how that's affected me. My classmates were more worked up about it than I was. One, who's always been very good at getting angry (which I still suck at, but I'm getting better), got behind me, screaming in frustration, all the things I'm probably feeling deep down, but can't access, while on the other side of the bed, the only male member of our class role-played [personal profile] blckwngdorcl, while I was trying to work up enough anger to beat the bed with a tennis racket. Which rarely works for me. I did better with it than usual, but it still felt hollow. Hell, it's hard to be angry when you're feeling guilty about not being able to be the superwoman who CAN do everything. Anyway, she put me on the bed to kick (which usually works better for me, anyway). I don't remember much, really. Just that she was working the tight muscles in my neck and jaw, very painfully, making me scream. I remember thinking over and over again, "How can you hurt me like this???" and knowing that it was the question I wanted to ask [personal profile] blckwngdorcl. There was a brief point where she kept on with the muscles, relentless, and I was screaming, "STOPITSTOPITSTOPIT......!!!!" in what I knew was a completely unintelligible wail, but the energy of it felt different. In that brief moment, I was standing up for myself, although it went back to not understanding why I was being hurt.

I told her, when I had stopped screaming, that I felt like, if someone was hurting me that much (and knew it, 'cause I've told him on several occasions), who I knew loved me... well, then, I must have done something wrong. I must be the bad person. Except I didn't know what I had done wrong, I didn't know how to fix it. She said that idea likely came from earlier in my life, but I couldn't remember anything specific about it.

Anyway, that was the headspace I was in when I got home. Feeling defeated, wanting to stand up for myself, and feeling unworthy to do so. [personal profile] blckwngdorcl and I talked, and I acknowledged that, yes, he's NOW starting to look for jobs, but it feels like it's too late. And I didn't see him tearing out all the stops. I told him about how I felt, like I was the bad guy, even though logic dictated otherwise. How I knew about his shit, all those things that made it difficult for him to move forward in that area, but that I had to deal with myself here. I told him that what he said didn't give me comfort, because he's said it all before, and nothing has changed. We talked about deadlines and ultimatums. I told him that, if he didn't have a job by my birthday (slightly more than a month away), that I would stop providing for him financially in any way. Of course, I'd still cover the rent and utilities and such, but I wasn't going to give him money for anything else. So, no more going out to eat together, unless we can go dutch. No more spending money. *sigh* And still I feel like the bad guy. I told him that I wouldn't see his efforts as good enough, as willing to really work on this issue, until he was doing things like waking up early every morning, showering and walking for miles around here (or taking MARTA, now that he can use [personal profile] lunenoire's pass), and filled out every application he could, right then and there. No gathering them up and bringing them home, where they sit, untouched until I get fed up and throw them away. Until he came home exhausted from his efforts, but knowing that he'd applied EVERYWHERE, even the places he didn't want to work, because that was the only way I'd really understand that he felt I mattered. Maybe that's whiny, maybe that's childish, but I've been the mom for too long, so I'm trying not to feel guilty about having those feelings, about wanting that level of commitment. It's the same level of commitment I've been giving for about a year now, and I just can't, just won't, do it anymore. The universe has given me very clear messages that I will DIE if I keep up the pace I've been keeping. Literally, not just the soul death which, to one degree or another, has been part of my daily existence since about April, perhaps longer.

So, after that, I laid down to nap. I had been exhausted on the way home, and I really wanted to rest.

And, in the course of this, I had a dream.

I was with my core class. There was a small scene at the beginning, involving water, a pool, I think, and a mattress. I was floating. Actually, I think there was rain involved. Pam and one of my classmates were there, but I don't remember details about it. I was intruding, kinda, I felt. There was another brief scene, where I was driving, and it was to this farm, where I needed to get something, something I'd gotten there many times before. There was a dirt road up to it, but it was very tricky. If you didn't make just the correct twists and turns, you'd end up in an untenable position, and the only way to get out of it was to back up, which I suck at, anyway. I did make the incorrect turns, and ended up in a dead end between some fields, with my only way out a narrow path backwards, with two trees at the end, which I'd have to avoid. I did it, somehow, and drive up to their driveway, which it turns out wasn't quite the right way, either. Luckily, some of the people that lived there was just leaving, so that left me some room to manuever out. I got the impression that what I wanted from there wasn't available, so I left.

The next scene in my dream was the one that's probably most significant. (Although I'm still teared and feeling defeated, and I don't care to explore the significance at this time.)

Myself, and my entire Core class, were in a pool. The pool was full of great white sharks. It was unclear to me until later in the dream if the sharks were real or not (they were). But this was an exercise, and I was the focus of it. Something about the sharks, in their natural habitat, would rub up against one another, in affection, and I needed to get in touch with that. So, each of my classmates wrapped themselves around a shark (which was supposed to somehow contain the aggressive nature of the shark), and I was supposed to swim among them, rubbing myself along against them. And I was scared to do so, but not because they were great fucking white sharks, but because it made me feel vulnerable to my emotions. I did, though, and that went OK. There was a brief moment where I was able to set aside my fear, and revel in the touch, the freedom of it.

Then we all got out of the water. Somehow, there were cats in the water. My cats. Except that they weren't my cats I have now. It was Neg, and Mika, and their littermates (who I know nothing about in real life, but somehow, they were all mine). About 5 total, all with the same general look and coloring. They were in the water with the sharks, who were no longer being contained by my classmates. I was literally scared stiff. I didn't know what to do. The cats and the sharks were all gathered next to the ladder where you get out of the pool. I was too scared to grab the cats, afraid I'd draw attention to them, and in saving one, I'd doom the others. (I don't recall being afraid much of the sharks for myself...) Anyway, one of them, I think it was Mika (and I'm not 100% sure Mika was actually in the dream), jumped out, easy and casual as you please. As did Neg. Although a few minutes later, I looked, and Neg was back in the pool, using it as a litterbox. I was terrified, thinking he was testing fate entirely too much. He got out again OK, though, and somehow that spurred me to reach in the water and grab the next nearest cat, and then the next one, which had been underwater, prevented from getting to the surface by a few of the sharks. I got them all on a table (they were already no longer wet), and was trying to see how they were doing. There was a vague sense in my mind that one or more of them (especially the one that had been under water) might be dead, but I was just looking them over. Because their coloring was so similar, I was trying to figure out who was who by their tags. I remember looking especially for a cat named Pepper (female? I was also especially interested in a female cat, but not sure if it was the same cat). The first cat I checked out wasn't Pepper, but a different one, whose name I don't recall. I found Pepper, and think s/he was the one that had been under water, but I didn't really get a clear grasp in my dream if s/he was dead or not. I think I was thinking s/he wasn't, but I think I was also wondering if I were avoiding the issue. It never really resolved itself. Neg (and Mika?) were fine, wandering around like kings of the place, like nothing untoward had happened, and the other cats were on the table, with me looking them over. I was aware of feelings of fear, anxiety, hopefulness, and practicality just under the surface, but overall, I just felt numb. That's when I woke up.
bookofmirrors: (Smile)
Say YES to Life! )

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