The Mothership

Some thoughts about dance, science fiction, and pregnancy…

When I found out I was pregnant, I called my mom a bit freaked (A.K.A really, really freaked out) out and she calmed me down by saying that pregnancy is like a dance. This is good, I thought. I totally get dance. Though pregnancy requires A LOT of hard work, she said, it really comes down to listening and responding to the what is needed in the moment. This is sooo much like dance, especially my favorite dance form: Contact Improvisation (CI).

In my experience, a really great CI dance involves deep listening and responding from a place of intuition and sensation. It’s not a time for moment-by-moment rationalization or logic-based decision making. So far for me, this is the same for pregnancy. I recently explained my experience of “feeling pregnant” as if some intergalactic  mothership pressed the activate button for my body. The creation process is going inside me, without my logical brain making lists and telling my body what to do first. I am going along for the ride, and to be on this ride, I need to shut up and listen. I need to listen to my body constantly, and respond to what is needed in the moment. Now, that’s a dance….and soon that’s a baby.