The only people I would care to be with now are artists and people who have suffered: those who know what beauty is, and those who know what sorrow is: nobody else interests me.
– Oscar Wilde
I have a theory that every living being is designed to cope with a certain level of stress in their lives, that if our lives are somehow free of stress, we will invent new ways to meet our mind’s infinite capacity to worry about things it can’t control; I call this phenomenon the Suck Equilibrium.
The ability to cope with stress is what makes a person great; in Einstein’s case it was the stress caused by a desire to discover the Unified Theory, in other cases it might be to balance the checkbook. The driver isn’t important; that it pushes us to do more in life is what matters.
The Suck Equilibrium dictates that we adapt to the amount of stress we carry; no one is free of this burden – the hungry seek a meal, the homeless a home, the bike-less a bike, and the millionaire more millions. There is no cure, there is no remedy; no matter the level we reach, our natural inclination is to seek more from ourselves. In the end, there is only Rule #5.
The Cyclist is a unique character among the others. While the artist suffers because they must; the Cyclist suffers because they choose. To me, the greatest artist is that who choses to suffer, and who discovers the beauty in that choice. I am proud to call myself a Cyclist.
Vive la Vie Velominatus.
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Jeez Fronkenschtem, I know summer is coming to an end for you, but it's a bit early to be getting all bloody depressed. Don't you go skiing ? You are close enough to Whistler, no need to cut your ear off over a few short glum days. Is Seattle weather that bad ? Maybe some flannel or a goodcardigan would cheer you up. Maybe a Starbucks ? Meanwhile, here in sunny Ox, it's getting warmer and we are looking forward ro a cracking summer. No suffering here, matey !!
@frank - chapeau! "Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars" K.G.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/k/khalilgibr386848.html#T7BVk4UYcfpceiwo.99
Frank. Thanx.
@ErikdR I didn't mean to infer all artists were Buddhists, merely that what artists do and Buddhists believe are similar. Wilde's quote is apt because it gets to the heart of the matter. That which motivates us and inspires us.
Beautiful! Just perfect.
Reminds me of two of my favorite quotes (which I will shorten):
" ... who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
And also
"Show me who you run with and I will tell you who you are."
Surround yourself with optimists and people who are interesting and that do things. If you hang out with crazy, energetic, interesting people who REALLY live, chances are you will too and if you hang out with coach potatoes, you will probably have a fat arse.
Thanks Frank, needed this reminder this morning!
"Suffering is one very long moment. We can not divide it by seasons."
Hopefully Oscar rode a bike because if he had done so more he would have had a feast of things to say.
Nice one as always Fränk. It's tempting to call you the Oscar Wilde of the bike world but then that would put me in a dicey " position" , as I have spent the night with you in a hotel....
@Buck Rogers My favourite is Jerome -
"Work fascinates me, I can sit and stare at it for hours."
Interpreted as "I'd rather be out on a bike".
@meursault
I realized you weren't equating all artists with Buddhists earlier - my apologies: That was just a feeble attempt at being witty. And I wholeheartedly agree with you, that Oscar Wilde's quote could be referred to as apt - and even inspiring - as a sort of strategy for tackling life in general (although I think it does sound a tad, shall we say... exclusive?)
But I'm still not convinced at all, that the 'suffering cyclist-artist' that emerges from the final paragraph of the present post, is in any way related to what Wilde was on about. Having met the Man with the Hammer is a different thing from what I assume Wilde refers to when he uses the word 'sorrow'.
And to state that "The greatest artist is that who choses to suffer" is, in my opinion, not very aptly put. I have a feeling that old Oscar would not have approved - but he was, after all, a writer and an artist.
I'm sorry: I'll usually be among the first to applaud a piece of writing as 'beautifully thought out and written', as @Mike_P has put it - but only if it is actually beautifully thought out and written...
@Buck Rogers
Now thát is beautifully written...
Very nice!
I too am proud to call myself a cyclist. I've actually been riding less of late too, but that is good as well. I spent too much time in the recent past riding like mad, but not having enough balance or time for other parts of my life. Now I'm in balance, happy to get out a few nights a week for 1-2 hours of cross riding, then get out on the weekends for 2-3 hour road rides. The fitness ain't there, but that's okay; my life is better on whole and the time in the saddle is extra awesome.
Plus, I'm really digging that in cross riding it sharpens my mind. When to brake, when to shift, stay seated or rise, where to grab the TT or DT, et cetera. I like the mind-freeing aspect of solo road rides, but it is fun to really practice skills again, something I haven't done in a few years with a sport, but grew up doing. Feel like I'm a kid again trying to master throwing or catching or feinting.
Addressing the idea of experiencing stress, or creating it when it isn't there. I truly wonder how many people now create their own stress with "smart" technologies. Haphazard social media updates or divulgences, sexting, drunken posts or comments. Was walking the dog this morning and watched a neighbor take an inordinate amount of time to get into his car because he had to do it all one-handed. That type of "multi-tasking" just confuses the fuck out of me.
As a New Yorker I look at Anthony Weiner as a depressing sign of the times. Not once, but twice! And he's a politician! I've never done that once and I'm some average nobody. I'm sure he's a "sex addict" just like Tiger Woods. What a goddamn farce to offer that as an excuse. Talk about creating your own stress, WeinerMan.