Windows
to the Soul?
Thinking
and Talking Activity
 It
is said that the eyes are windows to the soul, that they express
so much that we can see inside of a person through watching their
eyes. When a baby is born, one of the first things she recognizes
and enjoys focusing on is the human face! Part of what is so compelling
is the eyes.
See if you
can express an emotion through your eyes without moving any other
part of your face! How do your eyes express feelings? Is it really
the eyes, or is it the eyebrows, forehead, cheeks, and mouth which
frame the eyes, that convey emotions or thoughts? Experiment to
see which parts of your face you can move, and which parts you can't.
Which moveable parts are the most expressive? What is expressed
when nothing moves on your face?
We wear masks
every day as we relate to people we meet. We may not always want
everyone to know our true feelings, or we may not even know them
ourselves! One of the ways that we keep our inner selves hidden
is through the contradiction of what our faces are saying and what
our bodies are saying.
When people
use masks in dance or theater, they use the body's movement and
shapes to frame the expression of the mask. A mask which has an
expression you recognize as sad when it is not being worn, could
seem angry, tired, or snobby depending on what is being expressed
from the body behind the mask. A smiling face could seem greedy,
silly, devious, or any number of ways. Experiment with making your
body express something totally different than your face. (See the
movement activity Body Language
for more ideas on this.)
Discuss how
you do this in everyday life. When might you reveal more through
your body's movement than with your face? When might your face and
body be expressing the same thing, and when might they contradict
each other? Is one more truthful than the other?
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