Comments on: Living with Passion http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/02/19/living-with-passion/ tales of swimming upstream Sat, 22 Nov 2008 11:21:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Gardner http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/02/19/living-with-passion/#comment-242 Gardner Thu, 23 Feb 2006 23:39:11 +0000 http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/02/19/living-with-passion/#comment-242 I want to find the place, or invent it, where there need be no distinction between the joy of competitive success (and it's not zero-sum, because no competition is final) and the expression of spontaneous joy. I agree that it's often an either-or in this living place we inhabit. But sometimes it's a both-and. I like that. I prefer both. ;) Cf. Frost, "Two Tramps in Mudtime." I want to find the place, or invent it, where there need be no distinction between the joy of competitive success (and it’s not zero-sum, because no competition is final) and the expression of spontaneous joy. I agree that it’s often an either-or in this living place we inhabit. But sometimes it’s a both-and. I like that. I prefer both. ;)

Cf. Frost, “Two Tramps in Mudtime.”

]]> By: Martha http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/02/19/living-with-passion/#comment-239 Martha Mon, 20 Feb 2006 21:27:25 +0000 http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/02/19/living-with-passion/#comment-239 I see your point--and it offers a more nuanced take on this episode than I originally expressed. That said, I can't help but feel that the medals and trophies are simply trappings of joy that can't compare with the kind of joyful expression that LIndsey's gesture on the slopes stood for. I know winning feels good and that it can, as you point out, be a way of sharing our passions. But, perhaps naively, I must cling to the notion that, ultimately, what matters about what we do is not how we share our experiences through competitive success but rather how we share it through expressions of spontaneous joy. I'm sure that if Lindsey had won the gold medal she would have shown us joy. I have experienced the joy of winning (though not on the scale of the Olympics) myself. However, I have also experienced the joy of feelling in a single moment that I am doing something that I am body and soul passionate about. And I can recognize a longing to, above all things, share and express that joy. Of the two kinds, I'll take the latter any day. (and I LIKE to win ;) ) I see your point–and it offers a more nuanced take on this episode than I originally expressed. That said, I can’t help but feel that the medals and trophies are simply trappings of joy that can’t compare with the kind of joyful expression that LIndsey’s gesture on the slopes stood for. I know winning feels good and that it can, as you point out, be a way of sharing our passions.

But, perhaps naively, I must cling to the notion that, ultimately, what matters about what we do is not how we share our experiences through competitive success but rather how we share it through expressions of spontaneous joy.

I’m sure that if Lindsey had won the gold medal she would have shown us joy. I have experienced the joy of winning (though not on the scale of the Olympics) myself. However, I have also experienced the joy of feelling in a single moment that I am doing something that I am body and soul passionate about. And I can recognize a longing to, above all things, share and express that joy. Of the two kinds, I’ll take the latter any day. (and I LIKE to win ;) )

]]> By: Gardner http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/02/19/living-with-passion/#comment-238 Gardner Sun, 19 Feb 2006 23:46:07 +0000 http://www.marthaburtis.net/wrapping/2006/02/19/living-with-passion/#comment-238 A very poignant story, on many levels, and well-told. For me the ache comes from my feeling that this is a story about multiple passions, and the terrible weight of having to choose among them. Being a fierce competitor requires passionate commitment. Winning a gold medal won't happen without passionate commitment. But passion also results in brilliant, impulsive gestures of sharing. How to choose, especially when winning the medal is <em>also</em> a form of sharing one's passion? Which to choose: an impulsive yet profound gesture born of the moment, or the accomplishment that comes from long and arduous discipline? Both convey joy. And it shouldn't be an either-or, but sometimes it is.... A very poignant story, on many levels, and well-told.

For me the ache comes from my feeling that this is a story about multiple passions, and the terrible weight of having to choose among them. Being a fierce competitor requires passionate commitment. Winning a gold medal won’t happen without passionate commitment. But passion also results in brilliant, impulsive gestures of sharing. How to choose, especially when winning the medal is also a form of sharing one’s passion? Which to choose: an impulsive yet profound gesture born of the moment, or the accomplishment that comes from long and arduous discipline? Both convey joy. And it shouldn’t be an either-or, but sometimes it is….

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