Sunday, February 7, 2010
Happiness ingredients, Amy Bloom
The fundamentally sound, Sure-Fire Top Five Components of Happiness: 1) Be in possession of the basics--food, shelter, good health, safety. (2) Get enough sleep. (3) Have relationships that matter to you. (4) Take compassionate care of others and of yourself. (5) Have work or an interest that engages you.
The real problem with happiness is neither its pursuers nor their books; it's happiness itself. Happiness is like beauty; part of its glory lies in its transcience. ..To hold happiness is to hold the understanding that the world passes away from us, that the petals fall and the beloved dies. No amount of mockery, no amount of fashionable scowling will keep any of us from knowing and savoring the pleasure of the sun on our faces or save us from the adult understanding that it cannot last forever.
NY Times January 31, 2010
The real problem with happiness is neither its pursuers nor their books; it's happiness itself. Happiness is like beauty; part of its glory lies in its transcience. ..To hold happiness is to hold the understanding that the world passes away from us, that the petals fall and the beloved dies. No amount of mockery, no amount of fashionable scowling will keep any of us from knowing and savoring the pleasure of the sun on our faces or save us from the adult understanding that it cannot last forever.
NY Times January 31, 2010
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Ballet
"All real ballets, W. H. Auden wrote in his essay 'Ballet's Present Eden,' take place in a world where there is no memory and no anticipation; the joys of life are those of the immediate and eternal present. Auden, a friend of George Balanchine, was referring the 'The Nutcracker,' but he might as well ahve been talking about childhood."
New York Times, Roslyn Sulcas, November 30, 2009
New York Times, Roslyn Sulcas, November 30, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Graduation notes, 2008
Writer's prayer: Grant me the intelligence and patience to find the true pattern.
The work of doing and undoing is also part of the work.
William Stafford on a cure for writer's block: "Lower your standards."
Nietzsche: He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.
Einstein: Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.
The work of doing and undoing is also part of the work.
William Stafford on a cure for writer's block: "Lower your standards."
Nietzsche: He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.
Einstein: Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.
Seamus Heaney on history and hope
History says don't hope on this side of the grave. Hope for a great sea change ont he far side of revenge.
Ceremonies, good and bad
Humankind has established for itself ceremonies to mark important social events. These ceremonies fall into two categories, Elevation ceremonies include such events as weddings, baptisms, graduations, and installations. Then there are so-called Degredation ceremonies, such as courts martial.
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