On the way home today, Jonathan Haidt was interviewed in a program about “Wonder and Awe.”
http://podcast.wpr.org/tbk/tbk121202B.mp3
Mr. Haidt said that like all human attributes, emotions and the ability to experience them, express them, and be moved by them, are variable in all of us. And like many human attributes, the way that we feel, experience and express emotions can be modified, enhanced, and channeled.
He indicated that emotions prepare us for action. If you missed that, let me state it again, emotions prepare us for action. In acting, of course, (and many other disciplines) that is why it is so indispensable that we be able to call upon our emotions so that they are, as stated in our book, the fuel for our engines. It is also so very important that we have the humility and confidence to know that since it is a variable human attribute, that we don't expect nor try to display it as we think others do. We have to own our own.
Although I phrase it a little differently, he indicated that the emotion of awe and wonder prepares us to receive the universe with all of its ineffable beauty, complexity, and expanse. Awe and wonder, brings us to our knees, silences our mouths, speeds our hearts, quickens our breath and sharpens our minds thereby endowing us with such humility, reverence and meekness, that when confronted with Awe and Wonders’ overwhelming majesty, we are open to its enlightenment and soul wrenching enrichment.
I have always sought out experiences that have brought me in close proximity to wonder and awe, and although I have many times fallen short of receiving it transfiguring fire, it's one of the reasons, along with many other activities I enjoy in my life, I love acting. Thank you for allowing me to experience wonder and awe through the power of living truthfully in the imaginary circumstances of a compelling story.
Loren M. Lambert © September 7, 2013
http://podcast.wpr.org/tbk/tbk121202B.mp3
Mr. Haidt said that like all human attributes, emotions and the ability to experience them, express them, and be moved by them, are variable in all of us. And like many human attributes, the way that we feel, experience and express emotions can be modified, enhanced, and channeled.
He indicated that emotions prepare us for action. If you missed that, let me state it again, emotions prepare us for action. In acting, of course, (and many other disciplines) that is why it is so indispensable that we be able to call upon our emotions so that they are, as stated in our book, the fuel for our engines. It is also so very important that we have the humility and confidence to know that since it is a variable human attribute, that we don't expect nor try to display it as we think others do. We have to own our own.
Although I phrase it a little differently, he indicated that the emotion of awe and wonder prepares us to receive the universe with all of its ineffable beauty, complexity, and expanse. Awe and wonder, brings us to our knees, silences our mouths, speeds our hearts, quickens our breath and sharpens our minds thereby endowing us with such humility, reverence and meekness, that when confronted with Awe and Wonders’ overwhelming majesty, we are open to its enlightenment and soul wrenching enrichment.
I have always sought out experiences that have brought me in close proximity to wonder and awe, and although I have many times fallen short of receiving it transfiguring fire, it's one of the reasons, along with many other activities I enjoy in my life, I love acting. Thank you for allowing me to experience wonder and awe through the power of living truthfully in the imaginary circumstances of a compelling story.
Loren M. Lambert © September 7, 2013
No comments:
Post a Comment