In this week's Casamara Club leisure diaries, Jason talks with Erica about somatics without getting too woo woo, and why he won't be accepting your invitation to Zoom.
I'm so tired of video conferences.
I was supposed to join one last night during my usual leisure time, and even though it was for a good cause, I can't tell you how relieved I was when the host no-showed us and I got to pour myself a homemade tepache soda and watch a movie instead.
Thanks to an interview with Annie Murphy Paul on a recent episode of the Ezra Klein podcast, I've got a new handle on where that cycle of dread and relief comes from. In her recent book, The Extended Mind, Paul builds on current research showing that some of our best "thinking" is happening outside of the brain. By paying more attention to what's happening in our bodies — everything from noticing changes in our breath, to trusting "gut feelings" — we're more likely to notice when our brain is missing something important.
Sometimes that's your body's way of telling you the brain needs more information, or more rest. Other times it's a need to move around. Klein makes the point that most people (myself included) like to pace around when they talk on the phone. But since that's bad etiquette on a video conference, we end up stuck in our chairs, antsy and staring at a laggy video of someone speaking just out of sync with their voice. It's exhausting.
That's why, with very few exceptions (e.g., screen sharing, my mother wants to see my face), I'm going to start telling people I'd rather talk on the phone.
And if you're wondering how I spent my leisure time after the host no-showed, I watched Cabin in the Woods instead, and... I didn't love it. It sets up like they're interested in subverting lazy horror cliches. But unlike Scream, a good send up of the genre, Cabin in The Woods has nothing interesting to say and it turns out to be the very thing it's trying to critique: a lazy, cliched horror movie.
We're way past time here, but that's kind of a downer to end with, so let me leave you with good news you've probably already heard by now: Jordan Peele (Get Out) has a new horror/thriller coming out in 364 days called starring Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and (!) Steven Yeun. Yup.
And with that, I'll let you go. Until next week...
In leisure,
Jason
