A MUTUAL, DEVOTIONAL RELATIONSHIP

Over Armen's laced fingers, Nan wraps her legs around his waist. "The person who is surrendering their weight [is] trusting, but they’re also working. They’re holding on to you. And the person who is carrying, they’re using their body [in]...a structurally integral way, but they’re also having to navigate a lot of discomfort and a lot of pain," he explains. "So it’s about a relationship between the two people and how they navigate their discomforts and their pains to help each other." Ultimately, Armen says, "Carrying becomes more about the relationship than it is one person doing all the work or one person taking on the responsibility – it’s a mutual, devotional relationship." Nan realizes that accepting this relationship with Armen will be challenging. "He’s thinking about what it means to carry someone. I’m thinking about what is it to have to depend on someone else and what I might get out of that," she wonders. Although she also admits being concerned about what to wear and if she will be cold during the early March carry, Nan says, "I understand about myself that I have a hard time letting go of control and letting other people help me. I’m much more interested in helping them, so I’m curious to see what I’ll learn from that."