Monday, August 16, 2010

The meaning of sleeping positions - part 1

When I started drawing The Pirate Balthasar I was going through some rough times.
I had the story clear in mind but I did not think it was going to develop in something particularly detailed. I just wanted to tell the story.
As I started sketching the storyboards my relaxed mind abandoned me and "planning" took its place. Writing a story is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, everything must fit in perfectly.

At one point I started adding structure and themes and working by adjective and adverbs and using symbols and call back and all that stuff... and then, one morning, I woke up and realized I had shifted in my bed.

I had been sleeping in fetal position for more than 4 years... why did that change? I started looking into that and found out a couple of books about sleeping positions, one of which by Evany Thomas, even takes the time to analyze love relationships through the positions of the lovers in bed.

That's when I decided to sketch my couples in their favorite sleeping positions, I pinned those on the wall and went ahead writing the story keeping in mind, visually, the kind of relationship they had. I was quite surprised at the outcome but... you know, it's exactly like when you write a free flow and a character tells you something about themselves you would never imagine.

For instance: Kane and Castalia both hate potatoes. Me? I cannot live without potatoes.

The position Kane and Castalia revealed is called "The honeymooners". Usually this is a position that lovers take when they first start going out and feel like they want to merge in one being, almost. Supposedly, after a few years, you give each other space, switch to a more serene position and even sleep back against back and feet against feet. There are couples, though, who don't shift and still manage to sleep in a very small space, even though they have a big King size bed after many years. They sleep on top of each other or all tangled up. This is because they are very dependent of each other and cannot bear to be apart.

It's the kind of relationship Kane and Castalia develop, that is mirrored in this position... even though they fight a lot, they cannot stay mad at each other and there is something too familiar and comfortable about the other. I call them a symbiotic couple! Ha ha ha
To me this is more of a light sleep position, maybe they even whisper to each other and answer automatically with "mhhh" and "uh-uh". Kane is a heavy guy, Castalia's leg might hurt, his arm might go numb. Still I have a feeling that, because they are symbiotic, they might move around a lot during the deep sleep and turn to find a more comfortable position. They might end up with him prone on her supine... I doubt they separate though.
Is this a healthy relationship? I don't know... to me... it's dangerous to be so dependent or addicted to each other.
Keep this idea in the back of your minds.

Cassandra and Westley came out in a "Spoon position".
Apparently this position is shared by people between their first and fifth year of marriage and symbolize a supreme bond based on trust (if you think about it... it's about having genitals pressed against buttocks). Eventually one thing to consider is that one member of the couple is more dependent of the other: the one hugging. In short the one facing away is a person that likes to be pursued and chased after and the one hugging is the pursuer... the one who cannot let go. The pursuer is then trying to hold back the partner by holding her/him in his/her arms.
So does that mean that Westley loves more? Probably not... who knows what's in Cassandra's heart!
Sleeping in this position, people seldom shift during the night... although our girl might turn around, at one point, and snuggle against the guy because her subconscious takes over and in sleep she is very honest.

Pretty interesting, eh? More will come! :D

2 comments:

Rachele said...

Interessantissimo!
La posizione di Kane e Castalia non la conoscevo... anche perché non pensavo che qualcuno riuscisse realmente a dormire in quella posizione, io davvero non ci riuscirei...^^;
Sono più una tipa da spoon position, anche se non ho ancora avuto modo di sperimentare...
Sono comunque sicura che Kes ad un certo punto della notte si girerà di sicuro verso il dottore...
Penso (giusto un mio pensiero) che Kes sia altrettanto presa da lui... è solo troppo timorosa o testarda per ammetterlo... ma è solo una mia idea... :)

Abilash said...

Excellent ..keep it comng nd updating ..loved ur sketches'..