Don't mind the body

The reflex arc happens when your doctor hits your knee with a hammer (do they still have those?) and you nearly kick her head in  with a counter impulse.

I came upon it when I googled Reflex Art supplies and up popped this involuntary that happens to us all. The reflex arc.

As a borderline hypochondriac I felt lightheaded at the thought of having to lower my pants for the sake of medicine, as one does. And then the thought that I may have no reflex arc gave me some vague rush of anxiety.

What does it mean if it doesn’t happen? Something else to google.

Everyone wants to be normal, to have normal impulses and to be guided by them into normal circumstances and not disasters. I think that it’s true that our heads fight with our bodies for supremacy, and in the end one of them gives up and the other one wins.

I think that the body always wins over the mind, even though we are told in advertising, and in religion, to make our minds take control of our bodies.

In case you haven t noticed, this is a huge part of my subtext as an artist. The tussle between joy and misery. The ongoing war between the physical and the mental.

The question I’m really asking is: why can’t they both win and overcome their weaknesses together?

I suppose that is what religious prophets teach us, that spirituality is the medicine that overcomes all that dragging down. It’s just hard to submit to the holy wars when you have things to buy online.