I showed this picture during my short presentation on the synergy of Focusing and transcultural learning at the international summer school organized by interculture.de at FSU Jena. I explained that I had discovered the poster while walking through the streets of Trieste and that it had “somehow appealed to me in a special way.”
When I want to express what I mean by that, I first have to search for words. I could simply say that I like the colors. That needs no explanation.
I could associate it with familiar shapes, because it reminds me of masks I know from my stays in West Africa. That could be one reason why it appeals to me.
All of that is true. But there is more to it than that. There is more than just the feeling and the form. I can sense exactly what I mean by “special,” even if I can’t put it into words yet.
Where can I find this “what I mean”?
It is available to me as a bodily experience. Eugene Gendlin called this “felt meaning” or “felt sense.”
Here, Focusing invites us to pause, to linger with the unclear but palpable, to be curious and to let new words emerge.
During my visit to Trieste, I also researched the context of the poster and found out that it was part of an exhibition in public space. It was organized by the Museum of Art in Fashion and titled “Borderless.” Young fashion designers created garments on the theme of boundaries and connections.
The work pictured in the photo is by Mert Serbest, a Turkish designer. You can read his story here.
I also mentioned this during the presentation. Afterwards, a woman approached me and told me what she had experienced while I was telling the story. She described how the image had initially triggered a kind of inner search within her. She was looking for the meaning or significance, but couldn’t quite place it at first, which was uncomfortable. The moment I mentioned the Turkish designer, she saw the shape of a dervish robe in front of her. Since she herself has connections to Turkish symbolism, she recognized this shape through the reference to “Turkish.”
How often do we stop searching for meaning as soon as we think we have recognized something?
We then also talked about how, with “recognition,” the searching openness had disappeared. It is important to notice the transition from an implicitly felt meaning to an explicit form. I “recognized” African masks, she “recognized” a dervish robe. Although both have a certain similarity in form, their meanings are very different.
Recognizing a familiar form can limit the possibility of perceiving the additional possibilities of meaning. In unfavorable cases, conflicts of interpretation can arise because people “recognize” different, even contradictory things in a situation. In this case, Focusing invites us to feel our way back “between the forms” by referring to “felt meaning” and to open ourselves to a new process of creation of meaning.
In summary, the question arises: To what extent does incorporating the Felt Sense help me?
– I practice perceiving what goes beyond the familiar.
– I learn to tolerate not knowing and ambiguity and to remain curious.
– I practice listening carefully to others as we try to express what we mean and get to know each other in the process.
– And much more.
These are all skills that we need (not only) in transcultural practice and that we can practice through Focusing/Felt sensing.
It is precisely this conscious anchoring in bodily experiencing that opens up a borderless field of shared creativity.
In the workshop Focusing and (Inter)Cultural Complexity: Discovering a Space for Dealing with Otherness, participants have the opportunity to learn about practical applications of felt sensing.
A more detailed description of the synergy between Focusing and transcultural learning can be found in my article published in the Interculture Journal.