Wholed It Together – W.I.T
Blog entry 4 of many
Entry: Jouissance
Language says it all, doesn’t it? Really, though, it is language that dictates our first understanding of experience. If we have a word to describe our feelings, we can interpret it in our bodies and our minds.
Today I offer you Jouissance, a French word meaning joy and pleasure at the tipping point. A teeter between pain and pleasure and a stimulation that brings you to the edge. It is said that jouissance can be experienced through the breakdown of barriers between self and others. This breakdown leads to a sense of wholeness and pure joy.
In our culture we are often taught the language of ‘otherness’ and that can lead to separation and despair. If our words truly conveyed the reality of our connectedness, we could experience jouissance in our daily lives.
However, because this feeling is almost too much as it has the tensions of pain and pleasure at their peaks, we are subdued into a realm of centrality and comfort. Less pain, and far less pleasure. It is human nature to avoid pain even at the cost of losing out on pleasure.
What if our boldness came through our hands and spoke to our clients, telling them that they had a safe place to experience pure joy? What if we offered a glimpse of containment where they could release their fears and pain and be enveloped in jouissance and bliss? Would we feel brave enough to create that space? Could we handle our own jouissance that may come of the breakdown of barriers and realm of wholeness?