it’s late at night
actually
early tuesday morning
my mind is racing, streaming fragments of the day
an unsatisfactory meeting with colleagues at work
a therapy session with clients negotiating the boundaries of intimacy
impressions of walking the dog to the park
a whatsapp call early evening with my daughter in a far-off country
commuting in an overcrowded train from the city on her way back home
a dull ache in my lower back, shoulder muscles sore and tense
swiping through netflix
i stumble upon a delight
the art of loving
a polish film on the story of Michalina Wisłocka
gynecologist, sexologist, author of Sztuka kochania
verbatim The Art of Loving, in English boringly A Practical Guide to Marital Bliss
first guide in the 1970s to sexual life in communist countries, 7 million copies sold
no talk about sex with exaggeration or shy blushing
no judgement of people, or moralising over questionable choices
a straightforward story about a charismatic woman
taking on the patriarchal structures of the people’s republic and catholic church
benefiting her patients, paying for her choices with a ruined private life
but her body and soul connected into one, indivisible whole
i fall asleep, a smile on my face
Photo – Still from the movie Art of Love: The Story of Michalina Wislocka directed by Maria Sadowska, 2016. In the photo: Magdalena Boczarska and Eryk Lubos, photo: © Jarosław Sosiński / Watchout Productions
Also see: https://culture.pl/en/work/the-art-of-love-the-story-of-michalina-wislocka-maria-sadowska