Empathy begins the process of connecting us with others, as we share their emotions. Our own life experience enables us to understand something of the life experience of others. That emotional understanding is the distinction we call empathy: “. . . the capacity to share the feelings of others . . .” “Empathy is a complex capability enabling individuals to…
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Value for Wednesday of Week 45 in the season of Assessing
Being Vigorous
We empower ourselves through intense application of energy – through vigor.
- Just as iron rusts unless it is used, and water putrifies or, in cold, turns to ice, so our intellect spoils unless it is kept in use. [Leonardo da Vinci]
- The method of the enterprising is to plan with audacity and execute with vigor. [attributed to Christian Nestell Bovee]
- Who in the same given time can produce more than others has vigor; who can produce more and better, has talents; who can produce what none else can, has genius. [Johann Kaspar Lavater]
Energy, intensely expressed, is vigor. You can see the difference between a sports team that is playing with spirit and energy, and one that is going through the motions. Or think of a colony of ants scurrying about to build a nest, or a swarm of bees defending a hive. Whatever skills a group of people may possess, vigor will improve their chances of success.
Humans and other animals may increase their motivational vigor in response to a stimulus. “When rewards are available, people expend more energy, increasing their motivational vigor.” This is associated with greater speed and force in acting.
Physical vigor is a prominent feature of all life activities. “. . . movement vigor may be a trait of individuality, not reflecting a willingness to accept inaccuracy but demonstrating a propensity to expend effort.” Studies have focused on subjects including work, sports performance, and foraging behaviors.
“Vigour at work is characterized by high levels of energy and high desire to make an effort at work.” It also leads to improved mental health. Off-job physical activity is associated with greater vigor at work.
Emotional vigor “refers to individuals’ feelings that they possess physical strength, emotional energy, and cognitive liveliness . . .” “The construct of vigor represents one of the affective states referred to in the emerging area of study, the study of positive emotions . . .” Marketers and promoters are keenly interested in it, because it is a key to profit making. Focus is also turning to loosely defined concepts of spirituality.
Real
True Narratives
John F. Kennedy's brief presidency is a study in vigor. Having sought the office as an idealist, Kennedy enlisted the best and the brightest into a new administration that promised to bring the United States into a new era. Kennedy's vision was that of a new frontier, illustrated by Kennedy's goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Though Kennedy's legislative accomplishments were few, the national attitude of the early 1960s, which he helped to create, laid the groundwork for the sting of major legislative achievements in economics and civil rights that Kennedy's successor would guide through Congress and sign into law.
- Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965).
- Richard Reeves, President Kennedy: Profile of Power (Simon & Schuster, 1993).
- Richard Reeves, Portrait of Camelotx: A Thousand Days in the Kennedy White House (Abrams, 2010).
- Terry Golway and Les Krantz, JFK: Day By Day: A Chronicle of the 1,036 Days of John F. Kennedy's Presidency (Running Press, 2010).
Other narratives on vigorous people:
- Walter Stephen, A Vigorous Institution: Sir Patrick Geddes (Luath Press, 2007).
Technical and Analytical Readings
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
Poetry
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, / Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, / The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, / The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work, / The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck, / The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands, / The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown, / The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing, / Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else, / The day what belongs to the day--at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly, / Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.
[Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1891-92), Book I: Inscriptions, “I Hear America Singing”.]
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Frédéric Chopin, Piano Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58 (1844) (approx. 22-30’) (list of recorded performances), constantly drives forward, with great energy and commitment. Top recorded performances are by: Percy Grainger in 1925 (noble and imaginative); Alexander Brailowsky in 1928 (intense and passionate); Alfred Cortot in 1931 (powerful, beautiful, and cerebral); Dinu Lipatti in 1947 (transcendental, touching every base); William Kapell in 1951 (wide-ranging in emotions and colors); Julius Katchen in 1956 (like reading a novel); Rudolf Firkušný in 1959 (sensitive and genuine); Claudio Arrau in 1960 (with integrity and individualism); Arthur Rubinstein in 1961 (poetic, yet true to Chopin); Martha Argerich in 1965 (serious and intense, with a sense of tragedy); Ruth Slenczynska in 1984 (gripping and tough); Shura Cherkassky in 1994 (spontaneous and inspired); Mikhail Pletnev in 1997 (taking liberties with Chopin); Nelson Goerner in 1997 (intimate, lyrical, and energetic); Alex Slobodyanik in 1999 (refined and mystical); Marc-André Hamelin in 2009 (stellar technique producing a rhetorical effect); Stephen Hough in 2010 (poignant); and Alexander Kobrin in 2019 (hyper-attentive and detailed).
In the late 1940s, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and others popularized a jazz idiom known as bebop. Its vigorous rhythms and intricate runs suit today’s value. Many people trace bebop’s origins to Coleman Hawkins’ recording of “Body and Soul”. The genre then went far afield of Hawkins’ comparatively gentle track. Leading bebop artists include:
- Charlie Parker, with his releases (books about Parker are by Stanley Crouch and Chuck Haddix);
- Miles Davis’s albums “A Night in Tunisia” (1955) (62’), “The Complete Amsterdam Concert” (1957) (59’), “At Newport 1958” (41’), “Milestones” (1958) (68’), “E.S.P.” (1965) (49’) (books about Miles Davis are by Miles Davis, John Szwed, Sonny Rollins, et. al., Gregory Davis, George Cole, and Gerald Lyn Early, ed.);
- Benny Carter’s albums “Central City Sketches” (72’), “Jazz Giant” (1957) (39’), “Further Definitions” (1960) (34’), and “My Kind of Trouble” (1988) (49’), and his playlists;
- Dizzy Gillespie, with his playlists, and live performances including Big Band in Copenhagen in 1968, bebop reunion in 1975, in Redondo in 1986, 70th birthday jubilee celebration in 1987, and live at Royal Festival Hall in 1989 (books about Dizzy Gillespie are by Alyn Shipton, Ken Vail, Tony Gentry, and Barry McRae);
- Roy Eldridge, with his playlists;
- Christopher Hollyday, with his playlists; and
- Freddie Hubbard, with his playlists.
Tabla duets, from the Indian classical tradition:
- Zakir Hussain and Alla Rakha
- Zakir Hussain and Alla Rakha
- Anindo Chaterjee and Shri Anubrata Chaterjee
Compositions:
- Johann Wilhelm Wilms, Symphony No. 7 in C Minor (1835) (approx. 30’)
Music: songs and other short pieces
- Jimmy Eat World, “The Middle” (lyrics)
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