High Wire Artistry, Birth and the Why
Some time ago I watched the fascinating
documentary, ‘Man on Wire’ – about the high wire artist, Philippe Petit. Back
in the ‘70’s, he straddled the heights between the World Trade Center’s Twin
Towers – walking back and forth on a wire cable strung between the infinitely high
buildings. To perform this ‘artistic crime of the century’, as he called it,
took 6yrs of preparation, alongside wild courage, mindfulness and expert skill.
After Petit appeared to dance on the wire between the
Twin Towers, 415m above the captivated crowd, he was mobbed by police and
media. Out of the many strikingly memorable moments of the film, I remember
Petit saying to the camera how staggered he was by the Americans’ response to
his illegal high wire performance…. “All they demanded was ‘WHY?’ - a very
American finger-snapping question…..I had done something magnificent, and mysterious
and I got a practical : ‘WHY?!!!’ ….“the beauty of it was I didn’t have any
Why!”
This spoke to me deeply, particularly in
regards to Birth. The question “Why” seems valid, as it potentially takes us on
the journey toward understanding, reflection, and growth. In our western
culture, we have become so developed in critical thinking – which is admirable.
However, we have elevated it to such heights, that we seem to have left far
behind our valuing of Subjective Knowledge; that which we know by feeling,
experiencing sensations, intuiting,….. that which can’t be
measured and defined and boxed into categories and put into radomised
controlled trials.
We have vast amounts of scientific
knowledge about Women’s bodies and birth which offer a valuable and worthy
contribution. However, there is a Body of Knowledge that also is beyond the
grasp of the measurable, the quantifiable, the rational. Within this is the
woman’s know-how to give birth - without reading books or studying or going to
classes, or being directed by experts, she knows what to do to give birth to
her baby – if she trusts the process. This is her subjective knowing. It is the
mysterious and the bodily wisdom women can tap into in their pregnancy, in
their labours and birthing, and in their mothering. She may not know ‘why’ she
needs to do what she is doing to give birth…..she just knows this is what is
right for her.
Midwives, doulas, birth workers who
acknowledge this Aesthetic Body of Knowledge have insight and understanding
literally and metaphorically at their fingertips! The midwife can know by using
her hands as valuable tools; by using her instincts; by practising presence and
connecting with the labouring woman; by listening to the woman’s birth song to
assess where she is at; by watching the way she moves and behaves, her mood; by
watching the purple line (or silver line in women with dark skin) rising up in
creases of the buttocks; by noticing the changes of the woman’s body; by years
of experience : where she “just knows” something is necessary or needed or
flowing or ‘not right’ – without being able to quantifiably say how or
why.
Sometimes there are no answers to ‘Why?’
Bruce Cockburn singing his pertinent song 'Mystery' sums this up better than I could...."You can't tell me there is no Mystery..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeVbFustTkg
