Art and Sports
Art and sports are , at the same time, both the most absurd of pursuits and the greatest expression of our human nature. Why is that?
Why does American Idol (sorry Julie and THE ENTIRE REST OF THE WORLD) make me want to jump off a bridge while Lucinda Williams makes me want to keep on living?
Why does trash talking from a second rate player seem absurd, while Dick Hoyt pushing his son for 20 years in marathons and triathlons uplifts the soul.
A couple of thoughts:
1)To make art and to play sports we must have a need to express ourselves
2)We also need to have at least a little breathing room in our society. Look at Sarajevo in the 90s--hard to imagine hosting an Olympics under those conditions.
3)In almost all cases, it is necessary for others to be interested as well.
So Lance Armstrong becomes a saint of sorts because he raises the limit on what is possible. We may not all achieve what he has but the bar gets higher, the pie gets bigger and so my share of the pie grows too.
I thought about this yesterday when I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about our transforming view of living with cancer. You can check out this guy at:
http://paulsposse.com/default.aspx
Riding a bike with cancer is both the best and worst idea at the same time.
I also thought about this riding to work today. There is a church here where people climb these enourmously steep stairs on Good Friday. Does it make any sense that an entirely otherworldly concept like God, should be approached in a completely physical way, like defeating gravity. It makes no sense and it makes perfect sense.
For me, however, I have stopped contemplating the grand and am focusing on the here and now. To this end I set up an evalaution unit half way up the church stairs. So far I have 20 patients with chest pain and shortness of breath. The quation goes this way: Out of shape catholics + bad dietary habits + Weight Gain + Peer pressure and a fear of going to hell = Momma's New Shoes.
Why does American Idol (sorry Julie and THE ENTIRE REST OF THE WORLD) make me want to jump off a bridge while Lucinda Williams makes me want to keep on living?
Why does trash talking from a second rate player seem absurd, while Dick Hoyt pushing his son for 20 years in marathons and triathlons uplifts the soul.
A couple of thoughts:
1)To make art and to play sports we must have a need to express ourselves
2)We also need to have at least a little breathing room in our society. Look at Sarajevo in the 90s--hard to imagine hosting an Olympics under those conditions.
3)In almost all cases, it is necessary for others to be interested as well.
So Lance Armstrong becomes a saint of sorts because he raises the limit on what is possible. We may not all achieve what he has but the bar gets higher, the pie gets bigger and so my share of the pie grows too.
I thought about this yesterday when I read an article in the Wall Street Journal about our transforming view of living with cancer. You can check out this guy at:
http://paulsposse.com/default.aspx
Riding a bike with cancer is both the best and worst idea at the same time.
I also thought about this riding to work today. There is a church here where people climb these enourmously steep stairs on Good Friday. Does it make any sense that an entirely otherworldly concept like God, should be approached in a completely physical way, like defeating gravity. It makes no sense and it makes perfect sense.
For me, however, I have stopped contemplating the grand and am focusing on the here and now. To this end I set up an evalaution unit half way up the church stairs. So far I have 20 patients with chest pain and shortness of breath. The quation goes this way: Out of shape catholics + bad dietary habits + Weight Gain + Peer pressure and a fear of going to hell = Momma's New Shoes.
posted by BigWaveTom at 10:56 AM
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