A little experiment

Here is a little experiment that you can do at home and which will reveal how you see and perceive your body.

Sit down as comfortably as possible in a quiet room by yourself. Have a piece of white or grey modeling clay (about 250 g/9 oz) close at hand. Place an alarm clock or kitchen timer near you and set it to ring after 15 minutes. Begin to knead the clay until it softens and becomes malleable. Make a ball, then close your eyes and begin to shape a figure. Keep your eyes closed until you are done.

A myriad of thoughts pass through your mind: “ Will I do a good job? Will I be up to it? ” Relative to what, no one knows… Let your fingers, which know what to do, move and knead as they wish.

When the alarm rings, open your eyes

Immediately you feel an emotion. If we are sincere, we cannot remain emotionless upon discovering our creation. Sometimes, we feel our heart ache, such is the suffering expressed by this small clay body. The face is a vague circle or oval with no features. And yet, these bodies created with the eyes closed are incredibly expressive. One is overcome by tenderness and compassion for this small body, as if we recognized it as our suddenly defenseless twin, totally revealed and vulnerable.

Once the initial shock has passed, observe your figure

The relationship between the head, limbs and torso. Look at the attachment of the limbs, the arms, and the shape of the shoulders, if they are present. Look at the attachment of the thighs and the shape of the legs. Sometimes the legs are in one piece, reminding one of people who complain of being stuck in the past, stuck “ in the mud ”. Look at the neck and its shape, or observe that there is no neck. Then look at the figure sideways, then from the back. Observe if it has feet, hands, breasts, genitals. Observe if the figure is made up of pieces of clay stuck together haphazardly. Do not discard it too quickly. This first figure is a witness. With the second and the third figure, it will be possible to measure your progress. All these figures will bear a family resemblance; you will recognize the traces of the tilted neck or the flat torso. But in time these traits disappear, the arms and the legs become more defined. The clay figure evolves just as does your own body.