What gaming and dance have in common? They're expressive without consequences.
We love computer games because they can offer something to do for everyone in here. We have way more time at our hands than energy to actually do something. Even on a good day, when it's possible to get two or three hours of work in, that still leaves a lot of the day empty. The whole family loves to read and many games are like books to interact with.
There are friendly, simple and colorful games for the little kids. There are complex, demanding ones for the brainy people. There are outright violent ones for the guardians to let off some steam. And many games actually offer niches for a whole bunch of the family, so it can become something we do together. Family picnic in Tamriel? Some will pick flowers, some chase rabbits, others whack a few monsters and some extra patient kids like to decorate homes. Sure, means we never really get anywhere with quests or anything, but as long as everyone has fun, who cares?
MMOs offer the additional possibility of interacting with other people behind the safe facade of the character. In real life we fight very hard to keep up a congruent, reliable and inconspicuous outer personality. Even in a game we don't dare to fully let go of this control, but various groups inside can create characters together that express more of who they really are than they would ever dare to show in real life.
The other people playing the game stay strangers most of the time. That makes it possible to carefully experiment how much variance in the personality behind the character is still widely acceptable. If we mess it up and come across as a freak, oh well, let's start over again and try something else.
The most beautiful thing is when we "meet" someone in game who doesn't run away screaming at the first hint of our manifold nature. The internet, and for us, online games have opened possibilities to find understanding, friendly, safe to be with people that normal every day life just can't offer.And sometimes real life friendships grow from these virtual encounters.
Dancing offers the physical counterpart to this.
There's not much music we don't dance to and we dance almost every day. It's not a full switch, the body still stays in control of the speaker, but the others' emotions pour in more freely. Our dancing styles vary greatly. As different music calls for different moves it's a socially pretty well accepted moment to be varied.
While it's not quite as "safe" as playing games, after all we can be seen, might be judged by people who are right there in that moment, most often we don't care too much. The lure of dance is just too strong, the joy of moving to rhythms and melting into the music is fantastic.
But why be out in the open at all? After all, the inner world is vast and has room for everyone to create anything they want.
One point is that everyone in here was shaped to a purpose. Every single personality has some role in keeping the whole safe and sound, sometimes not in a really sustainable way, but they do the best they can (or could, at the time of creation). When you're all purpose to the very core of your soul, being useless is the worst that could happen. There needs to be some room to follow their purpose and do something. Even when it's just virtual.
The other thing is that so many of the inner people were locked away for so long. Yes, it held things stable for a while but it also produced immense pressure and resulted in a total break down. So the new possibility to try out is how life will be with small, not so tightly controlled ways to be many more openly.
