New Year Connection

In consideration of a new year.

There is a reason that taking a photo of a sunrise never fully does the view justice. It’s not for lack of adequate technology. It’s because our personal perception of the environment depends not solely upon the raw, ambiguous data entering our many senses but also upon factors like previous experience, judgement, our current state and mood - all of which are uniquely subjective. The sunset is a full sensory event woven with personal innuendo. Everything that makes it meaningful is nothing we can conceptualize, describe or capture. The same can be said for love and music and food and relationship. The nuances which make these engagements so profoundly special come from a type of knowing which cannot be taught and provide an intelligence which cannot be measured. This type of experiential knowledge is collected not through the mental mind but in an exchange via the sensory systems of the full body and brain. This undercurrent of wisdom pulses behind our autobiography and is a powerful contributor in how we perceive our world.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot as I rest before heading back to school. This last year was my busiest since returning to my degree, checking off 10 more classes toward my goal and learning heaps on subjects of psychology and neuroscience. Yet, it is when I arrive in my office, place hands on a body and receive conversation that the mass of academic material really consolidates and makes sense on a deeply tangible - and inexplicable - level of reality. This awareness of theory coming into practice is not something that could be transcribed into a term paper and it changes me as a therapist. If you and I have connected in 2022, I sincerely thank you for this.

As for 2023, I invite you to join me in placing greater value on this  type of implicit intelligence. We are clearly in a time where cultural and social education is so critically important, often creating pressure to be the loudest voice in the room. A healthy counterbalance through body awareness is greatly needed in order to notice and cherish parts of our experience which render us speechless. This is the way true wisdom is built, through a private life felt, not just an external life announced. Let us recognize this quiet, visceral knowing in our days and maintain a respectful assumption that others possess their own intelligent view, developed in the same way. And if it feels strange or confusing or scary to attend to your body, I am here to help.

I so look forward to further growth together and wish a loved and precious (albeit belated) happy new year to all.

Take good care,
Alicia