Simply Being | Simple Being
Hair!
It’s more on our minds than on our heads.
Hair plays an important role in our lives. It is an indicator of health, alright… But it is also an aspect of identity and personality, and so much else.
As a child and young adult, I was hair-obsessed. I thought that having a good head of hair was ALL you needed for eternal happiness. No, I am not kidding. And much this had to do with social conditioning.
Thankfully, I am a wee bit wiser now as far as hair matters are concerned.
At Tai Chi class last week, while practising the 10-form sequence, I felt a sudden instinct to extend my body farther out. So I began to stretch, lean forward, expand. Moved my arms further apart, expanded my chest fuller, widened my stance, sat deeper, rose higher. I felt larger, grounded and graceful, majestic.
I have always associated grace and beauty with a contained space. Expanding my body in Tai Chi, I thought, would make me look ungainly, awkward. Plus, I have nearly always been told that I am a petite, slender person, so it naturally follows that a person like me would take up less space, literally.
Hmm, I think I have grossly underestimated my body: size, height, width.
I am not a petite person. I take up a decent amount of space. But the truth may be that I internalized the petite-slender narrative well enough to begin taking up less space, literally. Perhaps, I shrank a little. Thankfully, I didn’t develop the habit of slouching or hollowing my chest or hunching the shoulders.
One day, I dumped the graceful walk. Placed my legs wider apart, dropped the shoulders, spread the arms out a bit. It felt good, freeing. I wasn’t swaggering or posturing; it simply felt like I was taking my rightful place, the actual volume of air-space occupied by my body.
I am sure there are all kinds of metaphors hidden (or not) in here, but I am going to leave it at that.