This afternoon I took another aerial class. New moves, new techniques, some of which I mastered, many of which I did not. The battlescar count for this week includes broken blisters on both palms, a bruise on the inside of my upper arm, and rope burns on the tops of both feet. Mrs. Ladies-Can't-Have-Calluses left after about ten minutes. Apparently she figured out it's not for her.
It is a reasonable question, why people would engage in activities that result in low-grade pain. Sensible people generally keep their feet on the ground, and the avoidance of pain is one of the hallmarks of behavioral theory. Are some of us just masochists who perversely enjoy being punished? Probably. But I think that most of us realize that whatever we gain from our activities far outweighs the discomfort. Blisters are a small price to pay for the sensation of flying, and the rope burns show that I'm strong enough not to fall. And when your battlescars show that you can temporarily outsmart gravity, it's normal to take pride in them. Not to mention that the aesthetic value of dancing in the air is worth whatever side effects you'll find. I haven't yet found the showoff factor in aerial that I've found in fencing, where we all get together and compare our bruises, but I'm sure that it exists. In the meantime, though, we all enjoy the dance.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment