Connection

Abstract

This chapter investigates the question of reciprocity in touching and being touched and takes up current debates about the effects of media use on interpersonal relationships and empathy, especially in teenagers. How do we connect with another person? What physical practices help us live in a historical moment in which regional, ethnic, religious, racial, and bodily differences have (once again) become intensely politicized? The chapter explores these questions and posits that interpersonal experiences such as Authentic Movement and the practice of witnessing are forms of a corporeal generosity that can change the terms of our social economy. Hope is a physical commitment. Our being-together in the world is a living, breathing practice that must remain grounded in our flesh and bones, even as it is increasingly conducted across virtual communities.