Skype and more

Wow, what a great way to communicate. First time user today with the webcam. It's amazing how much better communication is when you can see the other person. I had used the phone only part of skype before, which was just like a phonecall, but this is different. The issue is, you can see the other person, but occassionally both you and they momentarily forget they are on camera....the odd scratching, wiggling in the seat, pulling faces, that perhaps we wouldn't use in person. Its a funny thing to think about, how we "act" in the presence of another person, whether consciously or subconsciously.

Pulling me back into the presence was the video of me, right there in the corner......rubbing the hayfever nose, moving forward and back, grinning like a Chesire cat, God, do I do that all the time? Or is it my "bymyself" act? Perhaps a bit more self awareness practice is needed.

Letting your guard down with friends can be a bit of a shock when it is beamed back at you in full colour. A bit like the mirror in the clothes shop change rooms. I like to think how I look, (or more truthfully, avoid thinking about how I look), and seeing what others see is a shock. Is what I feel from the inside more helpful, or less destructive than seeing from the outside, even if the outside is more accurate?

I suppose trying to combine observed external facts with the internal observed self is what things like feldenkrais and ACT therapy are about. One is based around the physical self, the other the mental self, but both have surprising crossover effects. If you don't know what feldenkrais is, I suppose it is about body awareness and learning about what we do, and what also can be possible. ACT is about mind and values awareness, what we do, and what we can do to act more in accordance with our values. I personally have found these two practices to complement each other very well. But practice being the essential word.....

So, here's to some more reality and less avoidance; through practice, and some more practice.
Though perhaps with the camera moved just that little further away......