Another "Simplest" Exercise of Responsiveness
The interacting weather fronts of feeling-textures
The exercise
Whatever appears has a feeling-texture, which includes the felt-sense of extension, density, motion, atmosphere — altogether, a complex continuously evolving weather pattern.
Feel the diverse fields of feeling-textures of what is happening, including the feeling-texture that is happening as you.
Allow yourself be moved by the the interaction of these fields as they drift, collide, seep into each other, merge, divide, and intermix.
Some qualities of feeling-texture
Extension
The feeling-texture of extension is not fully dependent on measurable extension. A familiar example is personal space, or the distance from another which feels most comfortable during conversation. This feeling-texture of extension arises from the interactions of the persons cultural backgrounds, the architecture of the space of interaction, and resonant feedback loops upon sensing the other’s comfort or discomfort. This is a special case where at least some aspects of the feeling-texture of extension are vaguely explainable.
The feeling-texture of a person’s extension can be close to the body, extend far from the body, or sunk in and not even reach to the skin. The shape of extension can closely mirror the body, or differ greatly, perhaps having a great extension in front of the body, or being larger in the head or in the genitals.
Objects have personal space also. Cups. Tables. Houses. Explore with your hands to feel the field around your body, other people’s body, and objects. How does the feeling-texture extension of objects differ from their material extension?
Density
How dense is the feeling-texture of extension? How does the density change? Is it dense near the object or person, then thinning out? Perhaps the inverse: vaporous but with a thick and dense boundary, giving the sense of a separative wall? Is it denser in some areas, such as near the feet or the head, or perhaps differing in front of the head versus behind the head? Is the boundary crisp, or cloud-like? Is it solid-like, liquid-like, gas-like?
We might say of someone, “like talking to a wall”, or “I felt immediately connected with them”. How is this a reflection of the feeling-texture of density?
All these qualities have no inherent valence. In contemporary cultural discourse, we may both valorize “openness” and “having boundaries”. Both of these could be taken as prescriptive recommendations regarding “the best” density of feeling-texture, but feeling-texture, like the weather, has no moral or value implications.
Motion
Is the field of feeling-texture static? Is it in motion? If liquid-like, is it gently flowing like a stream, boiling, or churning like white water, or perhaps slowly oozing like tar? Where is motion in the field, and how is it changing? Is extension changing? Pulsing? Is the density changing? Is texture altogether changing?
For example, in everyday language, we might note that someone feels “expansive” or “contracted”. We can notice the motion of the feeling-texture as it moves between these two states.
Atmosphere
Is the feeling-texture effervescent? Sparkly? Thick? Solid? Does it have an emotional tone? With a lover, do you find their feeling-texture to be magnetically attractive (and perhaps, partially repulsive)? With an enemy, do you find their feeling-texture to be magnetically repulsive (and perhaps, partially attractive)?
A field of feeling-texture is like a region of weather: indescribably complex, with innumerable attributes that might be noticed. Descriptions can only assist with coming into contact with fields of feeling-texture.
We can describe the essence of feeling-texture in a circumstance as an atmosphere: “the atmosphere in the room was light and cheery; it was somber; it was playful and relaxed, it was heavy”. In these examples, “atmosphere” is a low-dimensional summary of the complex and shifting weather in the space, constantly in interplay, interacting with other weather systems. Consider the incredibly high-dimensionality of weather: temperature, precipitation, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, illumination — these only start to describe it. On a very sunny day it mysteriously sprinkles a little bit, with the wind intermittently blowing the water droplets this way and that. Now, consider the incredible complexity of weather interaction, as when a cold mass of air meets a humid bank of thunderclouds….
Being moved
Sometimes fields of feeling-texture interact like clouds of ink mixing in water, sometimes like soap bubbles joining, merging, and separating again, bringing with them some of the substance of what they touched, sometimes in surprising and never-to-recur ways.
Being moved by sensitivity to this weather, the experienced phenomenon of the interaction of fields of feeling-texture, is being moving to respond to all that is happening as a diverse and unitary feeling-event.