What does it feel like when art is compelling?

Let me take a moment to focus on what it feels like for me when I experience compelling art. It is a deeply emotional, interior feeling. It is overwhelming and even embarrassing to feel that much. Sometimes I wonder if others feel what I feel. It could be compared to a deep religious experience. It takes over all aspects of my being.

Having studied yoga and the chakra system, it is a similar, complete mind-body experience. It effects all of my chakras at once. From my root chakra up through the sacral, naval, heart, throat, third eye, up and out through my crown chakra. The most recent compelling experience I had with an art form was my attendance at a rehearsal of the african drum ensemble, which is the focus of my WOA project for CEP 882. I was sitting cross-legged on the floor observing the rehearsal and letting myself go and be in the moment. As the drumming crescendoed, I felt the music throughout all of my being. The room was literally shaking from all of the movement and action, my root chakra was engaged and stirred up. There is a sensuality about drumming. The drum is secured between the players legs and becomes an extension of the person. Seeing this intimacy between player and drum engaged my sacral chakra. The players are thinking and playing and singing and chanting and playing. They are breathing and really sweating up a storm. Feeling this heat in the room from this exercise engaged my naval, deep breathing chakra. My heart was full. I felt alive and grateful and full of joy. My heart chakra may have been the most engaged of all. Throughout the drumming is lots of chanting and calling and singing back and forth from leader to players and back again. My throat chakra was also engaged sensing this communication. I had a lump in my throat as if I might cry at any moment. I was so full of emotion, I was ready to burst. I started having moments of insights into my life. My thoughts wandered from the meaning of life, to the goals of education, to how this particular leader was teaching and guiding without teaching, to what I really want to do with life, and on and on and around and around. My third eye was engaged and inspired to high levels of thought. My spirit was also stirred. Like a top note of a fine perfume, my thoughts wafted to ideas of sacred significance in this music. Surely there must be a god in this inspiring, captivating music. These thoughts and thankfulness about God indicate that even my crown chakra was in play.

For me, a truly compelling experience with the arts is a complete mind-body experience that moves my soul to higher places not at all a part of my common everyday experience. These moments affirm my humanity and thankfulness for being alive.

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