The COVID pandemic has been an emotional roller coaster ride, triggering anxiety, frustration, grief, anger, loneliness, depression – need I go on?? Whatever the nature of stress, I have found the Action Drive to be surprisingly calming. Let me explain.
Sometimes when I become upset, I will engage in a mundane task such as folding the laundry, watering house plants, or putting away dishes. It doesn’t much matter what the task is, as long as it is practical, routine, and something that requires focused attention. I find that the physical act of working with objects can take my mind off my troubles.
If Rudolf Laban’s hypotheses about movement were right, there is an explanation for the calming effect of work. Doing something practical with physical objects requires the Action Drive – combinations of the motion factors of Space, Weight, and Time. The factor of Flow is latent such basic, practical actions. Laban associated Flow with feeling. If he was right, our emotions fade into the background when we work.
Find out more about the recuperative powers of work in upcoming MoveScape Center course, “The Action Drive.”