TWO NERVOUS SYSTEMS—APOLLONIAN vs DIONYSIAN—BOTH RIGHT
Once there was a panel from a number
of successful communes throughout the country. When asked what the central
problem was, a large majority said: Dogs!
My dog’s barking and doglike behavior
is great to me, but may be annoying as hell to another.
(Same with my frisky child, seen by
another as my bratty child)
This is my third time around on the
slapping issue, slapping as a part of the Authentic Games nights, and having had the epiphany that for some people this is a big
kick, and in a certain way, I don’t have a right to interfere with that kick,
set the quietness in motion from which these reflections can take place.
The “problem” is age old in societies.
Does the perky young neighbor’s right to have a hell of a good time having a
noisy party at 1 AM come first or my wish to have some sleep starting at 11.
The dogs issues shows it’s not an age
thing, though it often plays out that way.
Taking it down a notch more, does the
Toddler’s right to bang the hell out of the pans and learn about gravity by pouring
the milk on the floor over ride the parent’s desire for some order and
peacefulness.
And then there are the two nervous
systems. Parasympathetic calms us, creating conditions for digestion, sleep,
relaxation. Sympathetic ( I know, it’s a weird matching) is to jack us up, get
us ready for fight or flight or sex or vigorous activity ( no surprise sports
and war language going hand in hand).
Both have their cool sides. Jacked up,
hyper alert, ready for anything, this is ecstatic dance at it’s loudest or any
of the old orgiastic times, called Dionysian by the Greeks, for the god of
drink and merriment. Thrashing
around the campfire, letting off steam, or getting ready for the orgy, or
charging up in war paint to go off to war.
No doubt about it, this is a fun one.
The calmer nervous system is more
boring sometimes, and cultivated say in slower, more mindful movement, tai chi
and whatnot, or mindful walking or meditation, or moments of quiet in a busy
day.
The Apollo way, Apollonian, calm and ordered. Which actually isn’t how
real meditation is, but that’s another story.
So the slaps come along. The shouting
comes along. Not my cup of tea. My hearing on the left side and my sight in my
left eye are both considerably weaker. Think through where a right handed slap
from good old Mom would land.
But that doesn’t mean for the young bucks,
this isn’t a hell of a great chance to experience something young bucks have
been experiencing as long as we’ve had these two nervous systems, which is a
pretty long time.
Young bucks, let’s say in this day and
age, includes women who don’t want to deny that frisky wild woman part.
I could yammer a bit more about
ecstatic dance vs what I used to call the geriatric dance (Dancing together),
and why I liked to go back and forth between the two, but the fun of this now,
is realizing: both sides are right.
We need peacefulness.
We need alert vigorous living.
How does this fit in the Authentic
Games room?
I’m not sure.
I do know someone slapping in my
sight, or shouting in my hearing range, has to activate my parasympathetic
nervous system.
What I don’t’ know, that I thought I
did when I jumped into this fray, is whether that’s anything I have any right
to want to restrain or put conditions on.
Ah, life. Uncertainty can be very
sweet at times.
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