nanopolitics handbook - Minor Compositions

complete freedom because everybody was doing the same. No one was goingto look at me funny or judge me, so I went crazy. I remember there was alot of anger, I remember screaming and hitting the ground with my fists, Iremember running around in the room, laughing sometimes, sometimes almostcrying. I went through so many different emotions and my body movedin ways it had never moved before... releasing stuff... yelling! Sometimes whenwe tune into reality, it makes us quite ready to yell, and it can be nice to yellwith others just as to dance with them.The atmosphere was incredible. The air was thick and hot and buzzing...there was so much energy around. It felt as amazing to lead as it was to followmy partner.Social pressure on how to talk, behave and move creates frustration... thatday we realized or were reminded how true that was and mostly how we neededto find a way to express all these emotions through our voice and the movementsof our bodies. In big cities we mostly use movement in productiveways. We go from one point to another, there is always a reason why we move.The human body is a moving body, it is not meant to be still, and it seems tome it is important also to just move, not to do anything or achieve anythingin particular.Hagit’s workshop felt so revealing because it was about moving and usingyour voice for no reasons external to us and the collective movements of ourbodies: expressing ourselves and our repressed emotions, from anger to joy,throwing yourself around whilst experimenting with different voice intonations,undoing the codification of our gestures and the stiffening of our bodies,learning to lead and follow each other temporarily and in turn, respondingto each other’s movements and voices, producing a collective empowermentof our bodies through affects... I am so glad I went in the end. I felt justa little taller and better equipped to face the world.Working with fear 11Why and how is learning not to block, but to engage with fear apolitical act? (and how it is located in the body) […] What is it aboutour personal fears that is political? […]What is it about the way thatwe deal with fear that is political? [...]What is the relationship betweenan individual’s past experiences that have a bearing on the present andhow they are affected by and affect others? How does an individual pastcome to circulate in a collective present? [...] What is the connectionbetween dealing with one’s personal problems and the wider politicalconnotations? 12 156