The Crane Wife and ASMR

[kaberett]

Here is an article in the Paris Review: The Crane Wife. I found most of it luminous and compelling, in ways that made my whole body feel more alive, and then the concluding paragraphs -- about connection and autonomy and agency -- somehow left me unsatisfied.

But it reminds me: the sensation it gave me, that I think is what is now described as ASMR (passim), is something that throughout childhood I described at least sometimes as "a goose walk[ed/ing] over my grave". It was the best approximation I had; I'm not sure whether that usage is typical, or more widespread, or wildly unusual, but I remain curious about ways we have of talking about this thing.

Comments

[khronos_keeper]

How interesting! The kind of "someone walked over my grave" sensation for me was always tied with fear or uncanniness, which was always very very different from the "rightness" shivers I got from say hearing beautiful music, or seeing something profound or awe-inspiring.