There is no precision without comprehensiveness – things would be missing. Another characterizing feature of transcendence is comprehensiveness. The transcendent person leaves no stone unturned.
Value for Saturday of Week 47 in the season of Harvest and Celebration
Success: Living a Life of Achievement
Success is not necessarily about money, wealth, or career accomplishments. It may not even be about relationships. Success can be another word for flourishing, in whatever form that may take.
- The thing I remember most about successful people I’ve met all through the years is their obvious delight in what they’re doing , . . and it seems to have very little to do with worldly success. They just love what they’re doing, and they love it in front of others. [Fred Rogers.]
- A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him or her. [attributed to David Brinkley]
Sometimes people ask “What is the meaning or purpose of life?” or “Does life have any meaning, or a purpose?” These are confusing ways of asking the question, because they suggest an inquiry into a cosmic purpose at which we can only guess. Asked like that, these questions are unrelated to anything that is going on in our lives.
Better questions are “What does my life mean to me, and to others?”; “What purpose have I served in my life?”, in other words, “What good have I done?” or “What have I accomplished?” This does not necessarily refer to the time we won a trophy in high school; achievement here means a meaningful achievement, something that gives a sense of meaning and purpose to life.
“One can choose to define success on one’s own terms and create a life that feels authentic and value-aligned.” “People pursue achievement, competence, success, and mastery for its own sake, in a variety of domains, including the workplace, sports, games, hobbies, among others.” “When employees feel a sense of accomplishment and achievement, it can help increase self-esteem and confidence, enhance motivation and passion, and inspire others around them to be successful.”
By bringing the question back to life’s intrinsic qualities (worth) and achievement (value), we tie in our relationships, engagement and meaning, and then reach out spiritually with a sense of purpose. This describes how human beings thrive and flourish.
Real
True Narratives
From the side of unattained goals, and disappointment:
- Natalie Hodges, Uncommon Measure: A Journey Through Music, Performance, and the Science of Time (Bellevue Literary Press, 2022): “A Violinist Rethinks Her Devotion to Music, With Emotion and Erudition”
Technical and Analytical Readings
- Michael Kaufman, Redefining Success in America: A New Theory of Happiness and Human Development (University of Chicago Press, 2018).
- David K. Reynolds, Handbook for Constructive Living (University of Hawaii Press, 2016).
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), about a Southern black woman in the 1930s who journeys “from free-spirited girl to a woman of independence”. Other works by this author:
- Zora Neale Hurston, Novels & Stories (Library of America, 1995).
- Zora Neale Hurston, The Complete Stories (Amereon, Ltd., 1999).
Other novels:
- Kaveh Akbar, Martyr!: A Novel (Penguin Random House, 2024): “There is a life force coursing through the work, implacably curious, devoted to the small human things, and a recognition that even if we shattered ones don’t always put ourselves back together, there is dignity in our brokenness — sympathies and wisdoms that help transform a tale about a grieving young man and a senseless tragedy into a paean of life, of hope.”
Poetry
From the dark side:
- Edgar Lee Masters, “Washington McNeely”
- Wallace Stevens, “Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock”
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93 (1812) (approx. 22-29’) (list of recorded performances): as regards today’s subject, the music speaks for itself, exuberant and joyful throughout – the essence of a successful personal life. “The Eighth Symphony generally has been regarded as the slightest of Beethoven’s mature symphonies because of its short length, lighter tone, and frequent return to the musical styles and forms of the eighteenth century. However, beneath the gaiety of its surface lies much complexity and a promethean connection.” One musicologist writes, “'what it expresses is the unique sense of power which fires a man when he finds himself fired for a delicate task just as he has triumphed in a colossal one.'” Great recorded performances were conducted by Pfitzner in 1933, Blomstedt in 1976, Bernstein, live, in the 1980s, Norrington in 1987, Harnoncourt in 1991, Colin Davis in 1993, Gardiner in 2005, Chailly in 2010, Thielemann in 2012, and Savall in 2021.
- First movement (Allegro vivace e con brio): full-throttle exuberance
- Second movement (Allegretto scherzando): playful
- Third movement (Tempo di Minuetto): taking stock of the riches – not the money or the goods but the personal treasures
- Fourth movement (Allegro vivace): full throttle to the end!
Other works:
- Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat major, Op. 7, “Grand” (1797) (approx. 28-30’) (list of recorded performances)
- Aleksandr Glazunov, Poeme Epique (Epic Poem), Op. Posth. (1934) (approx. 13-15’)
- Paul Ben-Haim, Piano Quartet in C Major, Op. 4 (1921) (approx. 29’)
- Kurt Atterberg, Symphony No. 2 in F Major, Op. 6 (1913) (approx. 32-41’), “doesn’t ride on simple surface-level beauty. There’s a commanding sense of power behind the music . . . but despite the towering brass and triumph of the first movement, it ends quietly with a single horn, to bring in the second movement, which also begins with prominent brass, underpinned by strings.”
- Atterberg, Symphony No. 3 in D major, "Västkustbilder" (West Coast Pictures), Op. 10 (1916) (approx. 35-41’) (list of recorded performances), “was written during the first two years of the Great War, and is a remarkably effective and attractive symphony, with a nature programme.”
- Atterberg, Symphony No. 8, Op. 48 (1944) (approx. 30-32) (list of recorded performances), “exudes an atmosphere of rustic joy in the first movement, and follows with a beautiful, brilliantly elaborated tune in the second, a bright and lively scherzo, and a swirling, folk dance finale.”
- Sergei Bortkiewicz, symphonies: Symphony No. 1 in D Major, "From My Homeland", Op. 52 (1945) (approx. 41’): “. . . here speaks an intense musical soul, which only wants to give genuine art . . .”; Symphony No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 55 (1947) (approx. 34’)
- Raga Haripriya is a contemporary ragam composed by the iconic Indian flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia.
- Raga Malgunji is a Hindustani classical raag for late morning. Performances are by Nikhil Banerjee and Nikhil Banerjee.
Albums and artists:
- Nat King Cole was a great artist early in his career. His surviving family has cooperated on the compilation and release of a 7-CD collection of his early performances, entitled “Hittin’ the Ramp: The Early Years (1936-1945)” (395’).
- Steven Halpern, “Higher Ground” album (1990) (51’)
- Scenes, “Variable Clouds” Live at the Earshot Jazz Festival” (2022) (67’) is an exceptional live set. “The key to making a successful modern jazz album in the horn and a rhythm section mode is the group voice. Scenes has had a distinctive one from the beginning, and here it gets an even sharper focus. The live aspect of the set suits the group members, as they display an easy rapport that is fluidly conversational, slipping in and out of deep grooves and searching reveries.”
Music: songs and other short pieces
- Marina and the Diamonds, “Happy” (lyrics)
- Iggy Pop, “Success” (lyrics)
- Nawang Khechog, “The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel in the Himalayas”
