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| The Kiss by Gustav Klimt |
Learning goals #1, 3 & 5. As Valentine's Day approaches I'm pondering the kiss (the act, not the painting) and the power of non-verbal communication. It all started with a quote from renowned actress, Ingrid Bergman in our local paper who is purported to have said, " A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.” Fans of the movie Casablanca might disagree. The kiss between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in that movie was memorable but not nearly as memorable as Bogie's classic line " Here's looking at you kid." I digress. Klimt's painting on the other hand speaks to the power of the non-verbal. The couple are enveloped in a transcendent-like oneness of being. The only representation of their individualism within the act being the differing patterns of the beautiful gold object covering them. The couple's body language is totally congruent with romantic love. For those of you who may wish to read more about this beautiful painting follow this link:http://ezinearticles.com/?Gustav-Klimt---The-Kiss&id=4138409
Yesterday, I started googling "kiss as communication". Well, there are kisses for every occasion and for very different reasons according to which culture you belong. I learned that kissing between couples in some African and Asian cultures was unheard of before colonialization.
Cultural misinformation continues despite all our efforts to move away from an ethnocentric world-view. I viewed a youtube video about "Eskimo kissing". Yes, I'm ashamed to say that the Inuit are still being referred to as "Eskimos", a term the Inuit find offensive. In fact, I was amazed at the LACK of information about Inuit culture on the web...so yet another reason to continue with my blog. I'm going to try hard to find some accurate, first-hand info about this very rich culture. In any case the Inuit "kiss" is a form of greeting that truly uses the senses as communication. Touch, smell and the visual are used. Please watch the youtube video with apologies for the "eskimo" reference. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB4P0B5gT0U
Does anyone have information about reliable websites on Inuit culture? Please share if you do and as for learning goal #5 (self help strategies to prevent compassion fatigue and therefore facilitate empathic communication), well, contemplating the positive aspects of the human species like love is a good start and I've joined a gym. Hooray for me!
Speaking of the positive aspects of the human species check out this link about "survival of the kindness", an American social psychologist, Dacher Keltner gives us good news about our species. He talks about compassion triumphing over self-interest and "the sympathy breakthrough". http://www.cbc.ca/tapestry/episode/2011/01/30/survival-of-the-kindest-3
