Wisdom transmission, in situ

Found this surprisingly thoughtful entry in a chat board's FAQ this evening.

A Philosophy of Anger

It gladdens me to see online-veteran material such as this, that turns around and offers a major hand up to newcomers.

(I'll email them about the typoes.)

(And yes, I've found a new game. :-) )

Protection

Dreamed a very interesting concept just now.

I was hanging around after a drama group finished a public something. I was interested in them, and for some reason they were very interested in me, so I went up to their space to practice with them. This entailed: pick a partner, and don't protect them. Then, while your partner is also not protecting you, do whatever you need to do with that opportunity -- think risky thoughts, say dangerous things, push any of your limits within the physical space, etc.

Of course, for it to be meaningful that you're not protecting someone, you need to paying attention to and caring about the person -- otherwise you'd be ignoring or neglecting them. (I knew this in the dream.) Therefore the exercise does not permit you to be completely wrapped up with whatever you get into -- you have to keep some of your awareness on your partner and what they're doing, they have to matter.

(Post-dream ponderings now.) Why would this be a meaningful exercise? Because protection has a dark side. Being protected can deny us our competence, our maturity, our freedom, and can be contaminated in all sorts of ways (eg Pink Floyd, "Mother"). We're adults now, but we were kids for a long time, never completely deciding for ourselves what was safe and how much safety was worth its cost.

Can you be safe pushing your limits without anyone nearby protecting you? In my dream someone was climbing the walls, having asked for a harness and a spotter. It's not protection to do a service for someone that they've asked of you -- it's respecting their will. Each adult is in charge of determining how much safety they require in service to the higher goal of using their life in fashion worthwhile to them.

Why would an acting group use this as an exercise? Two reasons: 1) it's an opportunity to find your own truth and expression while getting an antidote to any protection that may have kept you from those in the past, and 2) because the actor on-stage can use the same discipline to be aware of and care about the audience during their performance, and not protect them from the actor.