The Body Electric
06
Jun/2008
While I connect cognitively with people online, I find that thinking this way has limits. I still subscribe to the school of thought begun by Walt Whitman, that the mind and the body are one. To “lack one, lacks both.” I thought of this thanks to Johanna’s blog post on how New Yorkers rarely look up when walking.
This spring I started a habit of looking people in the eye as we pass each other on the street. Afterall, we are in the business of understanding people. Truth be told, it began while on a flirtatious kick, but has since become second nature. I look into all eyes. I do it with no intention of conversation. And it has never translated into the verbal. But I have found that the aggregation of these fleeting moments builds a unique energy, one that moves my mind into new thoughts + directions.
Comments:
Jun 9, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I do the same thing and as someone that doesn’t have foot traffic where he lives (Orlando) it seemed to genuinely wig New Yorkers out. It pulls people into the moment, however fleeting, and requires that they make some kind of action.
It almost feels aggressive in regard to paying attention to no thing at all besides moving. You’ve now incited that person to respond to your looking at them in the eye. They have to specifically return the look or demure and look down. Not something their reputation would predict.
Nov 12, 2009 at 11:19 am
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Nov 19, 2009 at 2:30 pm
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