Sunday, May 12, 2013

Gravitas: A Narrative Pseudo-Poem

Gravitas: A Narrative Pseudo-Poem

In 1990 Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi wrote a book called Flow.
[Subtitled] The Psychology of Optimal Experience.
By "flow" he referred to a state of intense concentration.
Complete absorption with an activity.
The flow state is an ultimate moment of intrinsic motivation.

The ancient Romans spoke of gravitas, meaning weight.
Seriousness and dignity, connoting a depth of personality.
The image is that of a sculptor, engaged in creating.
The clamour of hooves does not cause a chisel to skip.
No marble nostril falls to the ground. No blemish results.

When I think of a modern-day equivalent to these terms
I envision John Mayer performing his song Gravity, live.
He is doing something that never existed pre-moment.
And in such a fashion, it was not imagined, even by him.
A stream that cannot but fall downhill, due to angle.

-- © Ciprianowords, Inc. 2013 --



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