Assignment: Mastery
As we have discussed in class, our goal this year is to master the Calculus. What does this mean? When thinking of mastery, several things come to mind. One is the London Taxi Drivers' Test. Can you imagine having to take a rider anywhere in London, a city designed and built long before the advent of the automobile, based entirely on being given an address?
Another example comes from the recently released DVD of the poet laureate of the great state of New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen as he describes writing the lyrics to "The Rising." Mr. Springsteen says, "These are the songs that you wait for. Did I think of any of this prior to writing the song? Nope. But I felt all of it when I was writing the song. Over thirty years you internalize your craft and the mechanics of story telling; it becomes like a second language. You speak without thinking. It's like a second skin that you feel with. So you pray to the gods of creativity and aliveness that you remain awake and alert and in command of your senses so that when the moments arrive you are ready."
Finally, one of my favorites comes from the opening scene of the movie "Caddyshack" in which Chevy Chase plays Ty Webb:
Ty: "I like you Benny."
Danny: "That's Danny, sir."
Ty: "Danny...Let me give you a little advice. There's a force in the universe that makes things happen and all you have to do is get in touch with it. Stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball. (Covers eyes with blindfold.) Danny, where's the wedge?"
Danny: "It's right here, sir."
Ty: "Thank you Danny. Find your center, hear nothing, feel nothing." (Hits ball over water trap and it lands within 2 feet of the hole.)
Danny: "That was incredible, sir"
Ty: "You try it. Just relax, find your center, picture the shot, Danny. Picture it. Turn off all the sound. Just let it happen. Be the ball, Danny. You're not being the ball, Danny."
Danny: "Well, it's kind of difficult with you talking like that."
Ty: "OK. I'm not talking. I've stopped talking. I'm not talking now. Be the ball. (Danny hits ball and it lands in the water.)
Danny: "Where'd it go?"
Ty: "Right in the lumber yard."
So as we embark upon our journey to attempt to master the Calculus, I want you to reflect on things in your life that you have already truly mastered. What do you do in your life where you act without thinking, where you are the ball, what is your second skin?
Another example comes from the recently released DVD of the poet laureate of the great state of New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen as he describes writing the lyrics to "The Rising." Mr. Springsteen says, "These are the songs that you wait for. Did I think of any of this prior to writing the song? Nope. But I felt all of it when I was writing the song. Over thirty years you internalize your craft and the mechanics of story telling; it becomes like a second language. You speak without thinking. It's like a second skin that you feel with. So you pray to the gods of creativity and aliveness that you remain awake and alert and in command of your senses so that when the moments arrive you are ready."
Finally, one of my favorites comes from the opening scene of the movie "Caddyshack" in which Chevy Chase plays Ty Webb:
Ty: "I like you Benny."
Danny: "That's Danny, sir."
Ty: "Danny...Let me give you a little advice. There's a force in the universe that makes things happen and all you have to do is get in touch with it. Stop thinking, let things happen, and be the ball. (Covers eyes with blindfold.) Danny, where's the wedge?"
Danny: "It's right here, sir."
Ty: "Thank you Danny. Find your center, hear nothing, feel nothing." (Hits ball over water trap and it lands within 2 feet of the hole.)
Danny: "That was incredible, sir"
Ty: "You try it. Just relax, find your center, picture the shot, Danny. Picture it. Turn off all the sound. Just let it happen. Be the ball, Danny. You're not being the ball, Danny."
Danny: "Well, it's kind of difficult with you talking like that."
Ty: "OK. I'm not talking. I've stopped talking. I'm not talking now. Be the ball. (Danny hits ball and it lands in the water.)
Danny: "Where'd it go?"
Ty: "Right in the lumber yard."
So as we embark upon our journey to attempt to master the Calculus, I want you to reflect on things in your life that you have already truly mastered. What do you do in your life where you act without thinking, where you are the ball, what is your second skin?
posted by mathman at 8:58 PM
1 Comments:
As Hurricane Ophelia finally departs, I find myself coming across yet another man's description of mastery. I just finished Dave Marsh's epic description of the Boss's rise to fame, Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story, and in the final pages Marsh cites the remarkable Thomas Wolfe novel You Can't Go Home Again to describe the level of professional accomplishment Mr. Springsteen attained by the end of "The River" tour in 1981.
"For he had learned some of the things that every man must find out for himself, and he had found out about them as one has to find out -- through error and through trial, through fantasy and illusion, through falsehood and his own damn foolishness, through being mistaken and wrong and an idiot and egotistical and aspiring and hopeful and believing and confused... Each thing he learned was so simple and obvious, once he grasped it, that he wondered why he had not always known of it. All together, they wove into a kind of leading thread, trailing backward through his past and out into the future. And he thought that now, perhaps, he could begin to shape his life to mastery, for he felt a new sense of direction within him."
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