At one point I flashed back to the Felliniesque moment I experienced, sitting on the floor of the baths in St. Petersburg, the babushkas surrounding me, beating me with the banyan leaves. Not that there was anything sexual then, but this moment was reminiscent of the physical sensations - the circulation being brought to the surface, feeling like raw, pure energy. No, that's not completely honest. The other part that is familiar is the moment, the choice, of letting go and giving in to physical sensation or retaining control and choosing to drive the situation rather than respond. Always, since I was a small child, I am conscious of this moment. I have always been seduced by the notion of what letting go would bring.
Long before it was sexual it was sensual. Hiding under the kitchen table, having stolen the can of condensed milk. I sucked through the little triangle, not the big one, and simultaneously put my fingers in my panties. The silky, sweet milk somehow mirrored the silky feeling I felt beneath my little fingers. Swimming in Lake Huron each summer, the way my blood turned to ice when I first dove under. Moving through the water my long hair felt like seaweed on my neck and arms and I was no longer a girl, a daughter, no longer trying to fulfill "smart", "nice", "mature". I was just sensation and motion and energy. Playing the cello, my bow hold, my arm, my entire body, wrapped around the sounds, the vibrations, gripped between my knees. Forever keeping myself in check to keep my head in the game: allow myself the experience but do not lose my self. Even playing in the mud after eating mushrooms, I reminded myself to hang on.