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…
Read More
Value for Thursday of Week 48 in the season of Harvest and Celebration
Pacing
A frenetic pace cannot be sustained for long. A snail’s pace is rarely productive. Pacing is about proportion, in context, including the context of time.
- Life is a marathon, not a sprint; pace yourself accordingly. [Amby Burfoot]
- . . . adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. [Ralph Waldo Emerson]
- Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm. [Robert Louis Stevenson]
- Denial helps us to pace our feelings of grief. There is a grace in denial. It is nature’s way of letting in only as much as we can handle. [Elisabeth Kubler-Ross]
Some people can read quickly but some works pack many ideas into a few words, while others present simple images that are best absorbed quickly. A trip to the museum will reveal many people taking a few seconds to pause and “consider” a masterwork, the intricacies of which cannot be absorbed in such a short time. A chief failing in our political system today is the demand that complex issues be fully considered in a sound bite; political debates have become farcical, with the candidates being expected to debate a dozen or more complex issues in sixty or ninety minutes, the amount of time a true debate would devote to one issue, or better still, one part of an issue.
After thousands of years of history, humans developed science a few centuries ago. That science has advanced geometrically in recent decades.
For thousands of years, economies were local. A little less than two centuries ago, they began to become national. That phase of national economics, under which the economic edifice of the industrial revolution was built, lasted approximately 150 years. It has now been replaced by global economics, a phase that will endure unless new technologies allow a return to local or regional economies. During the phase of national economies and the industrial revolution, complex systems of finance and industry were established; many of them have become obsolete, and with their obsolescence has come the obsolescence of entire sectors of the old economy. Millions of people are already starving in the underdeveloped world. Unless we can adjust ourselves to the pace of change in our technologically advanced world, the same thing is likely to happen in the developed world.
The pace of life in this new world has not reached an equilibrium. Perhaps it never will again; of course, that depends in part on what one means by “equilibrium”. Nations, societies and cultures have not agreed on norms and rules, as previous generations did in mandating a forty-hour workweek. In the United States, the disagreement has become especially bitter and ideological. Old assumptions may no longer make sense but many people cling to them anyway. Where this leads remains to be seen.
To an extent, pace is individualized. However, if you want to be an executive chef in a busy restaurant, then you will have to meet the demands imposed by the position.
“The art of pacing ourselves can . . . mean the difference between life and death in today’s hectic world. . . adrenal fatigue, headaches and gastrointestinal distress among other physical upsets is only the tip of the impact of stress without the buffering positive influence of pacing skills.” “Stress comes in many forms. Our stress response does not. Our brain goes on high alert, and our body get ready for fight or flight. The response may be life-saving in the short run but exhausting in the long run.” “Pacing does help you get your life back”.
My father, who grew up plowing fields with a team of horses, left an indelible impression on me with one simple comment: “Never overwork your horses.” Each of us faces a choice about the pace of our lives. We are challenged to find a balance that is both productive and sustainable. We have little guidance from the economic order, which is changing too rapidly for anyone to make much sense of it. But we do have some guidance from within. If we have good values and are honest and self-empathetic, then at least we can find a pace at which we can function and be happy, assuming that the economic and political sea around us does not engulf us.
Real
True Narratives
Technical and Analytical Readings
On the importance of finding a healthy balance between encouraging our children to achieve their potential and maintaining room to breathe and enjoy life:
- Madeline Levine, The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids (Harper/HarperCollins Publishers, 2006).
- Madeline Levine, Teach Your Children Well: Parenting for Authentic Success (Harper/HarperCollins Publishers, 2012).
Other writings:
- Jenny O’Dell, Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock (Random House, 2023), “urges readers to revise their conceptions of time and the world to nurture hope and action for a better future.”
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
Poetry
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Bossa nova is characterized by “deeply relaxed atmosphere and lush, unhurried textures.”. “Bossa nova, which literally means ‘new wave,’ was a blending of samba and jazz that rose out of a guitar school formed in Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana neighborhood in 1956.” “Bossa Nova was a soft samba based on traditional Brazilian music and rhythms, American jazz, and a new style of Portuguese lyrics. It was a youthful celebration of romance, beach culture and sensual pleasure.” Leading exponents include:
Stan Getz, in his bossa nova period:
- “Bossa Nova” album (1962) (38’)
- “Getz/Gilberto” album (1963) (72’)
- “Jazz Masters 53” (72’)
- Various tracks
Antônio Carlos Jobim albums:
- “Stone Flower” (1969) (40’)
- “Finest Hour” (1964)
- “Wave” (1967) (31’)
- Rome concert 1983 (48’)
- “Chega de Saudade” album (1958) (23’)
- “en Mexico” album (27’)
- “João Gilberto” album (1973) (50’)
- Bebel Gilberto, “João” (2023) (40’): João’s daughter carries on her father’s legacy.
Cannonball Adderly albums:
- “Cannonball’s Bossa Nova” (1961) (45’)
- “Cannonball Adderly and the Bossa Rio Sextet” (2019) (76’)
- “Eliane Elias Plays Jobim” (1989) (58’)
- “Eliane Elias Sings Jobim” (1998) (55’)
- “Dreamer” (2004) (53’)
- “Bossa Nova Stories” (2008) (59’)
- “Made in Brazil” (2014) (58’)
- “Quietude” (2022) (42’)
Funk
Some of Grant Green’s funk albums convey a similar sense of pacing to that often found in bossa nova. Be cool.
- “Funk in France: Paris to Antibes 1969-1970” (118’)
- “The Main Attraction” (1976) (38’)
- “Green Street” (1961) (39’)
- “Street of Dreams” (1964) (34’)
- “Iron City” (1966) (40’)
- “Slick! Live at Oil Can Harry’s” (1975) (67’)
In a similar vein is the Brazilian guitarist/singer Sessa, whose albums include:
- “Estrela Acesa” (2022) (39’)
- “Grandeza” (2019) (30’)
Other jazz albums:
- Charlie Haden & Brad Mehldau, “Long Ago and Far Away” (2007) (72’)
- Gustaf Ljunggren, “Floreana” (2022) (43’): “Swedish multi-instrumentalist and composer Gustaf Ljunggren has teamed up with Icelandic Bass Guitar player and composer Skúli Sverrisson (Laurie Anderson, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Bill Frisell, Blonde Redhead ) to create an album that wishes to offer the listener private musical spaces to dwell in for a while.” “This is an album that takes its influences from folk, ambient and jazz, mixes them with just a touch of accessible pop, then goes off to find a niche of its very own.” The tracks float as in a dream.
Music: songs and other short pieces
- The Eagles, “Take It Easy” (lyrics)
- Bruce Cockburn, “Pacing the Cage” (lyrics)
Visual Arts
- Paul Klee, Pastoral Rhythms (1927)
.jpg){kind=link}