Creating purpose and intensity in life

She was probably a fan of caffeinated beverages

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It was probably an assertion Cob. You know what Americans are like.

It ought to have read-"SHE DIDN'T DO SO BAD".

I'm a low intensity person myself. You have time to learn about things in the slow lane. In the fast lane you have to concentrate too much and all you ever learn is how to go fast and after that it is necessary to insist, which is asserting whilst stamping foot, that going fast is the be all and end all of life.

And boy are they boring.

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I like to believe that I live a life with intensity. To me, it means being in tune with life and living it to the fullest extent. A favorite phrase of mine, and I'm not sure where I heard it is: "Life is not a dress rehearsal, this is it!"

So when given the chance to travel, try something new or meet new people, I always go for it.

MK

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A dilettante just dabbles at this and that never doing anything with intensity. Intensity is living life with some degree of disinterested passion. Disinterested passion is gusto with small regard to self aggrandizement. A person who has developed their own intellectual sophistication lives a life of passion and depth that few others can even recognize. Carl Sagan said "Understanding is a kind of ecstasy." Carl knew what living with intensity is all about. It is about billions and billions while others live with dozens and dozens.

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Yeah well. Carl Sagan eh?

Ovid has the oracle consulted about the future life of Narcissus say-

Quote:

Yea, full long, so that him selfe he doe not know.

Arthur Golding's 16th century version.

Mr Melville makes a note on this passage-

Quote:

No oracular utterance was more famous or more frequently alluded to that the Delphic Apollo's "know thyself". Narcissus' life turns out to be an experience in paradox.

His "ecstasy" when he sees the reflection of his beauties in the pool

Quote:

All these he woondreth to beholde, for which (as I doe gather)
Himselfe was to be wondered at, or to be pitied rather.
He is enamored of himselfe for want of taking heede;
And where he lykes another thing, he lykes himselfe in deede.
He is the partie whome he wooes, and suter that doth wooe;
He is the flame that settes on fire, and thing that burneth tooe.

His death, at 16, is described thus-

Quote:

Even so by piecemale being spent and wasted through desire,
Did he consume and melt away with Cupid's secret fire.
His lively hue of white and red, his cheerefulnesse and strength
And all the things that lyked him did wanze away at length,
So that in fine remayned not the bodie which of late
The wretched Echo loved so.

And it is dilettantism to read minor writers oneself has chosen, as one might a tuxedo, when you have failed to read those whose names our culture has chosen over 2000 years of critical study.

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Possibly she possessed a few different qualities - any of the following, and possibly a mix :

-Passionate
-hyperactive
-friendly
-loving
-curious
-charming
-ambitious

Of course, they are just words that I would possibly associate with such a statement, but words mean different things to different people.

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Quote:

What does this cryptic message "She Lived Life with Intensity" mean to you?

I interpret it that she was fully engaged in whatever she chose to do- that she went at life full tilt and didn't do things by halves.

This reminds me of a grave stone inscription I saw in a churchyard in Wick St. Lawrence in North Somerset. It was for a young girl who died young- I can't remember how old she was exactly- but I remember she was young- I want to say somewhere between eight and eleven. Her name was Lucy Emma Hewitt and the inscription read:
"Loving daughter and dedicated sister- What strength-what love-what fun".

I love that- what else could you ask anyone to say about you- especially when you'd only had time to be a daughter and a sister before your time was over.

Sounds like she could have had a sort of sisterhood or kinship with the woman who "lived with intensity".

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Well, an intense woman could also be a bitter old hag.

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Yes, so many different possibilities-that's what makes life so intense.

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A dilettante just dabbles at this and that never doing anything with intensity. Intensity is living life with some degree of disinterested passion. Disinterested passion is gusto with small regard to self aggrandizement. A person who has developed their own intellectual sophistication lives a life of passion and depth that few others can even recognize. Carl Sagan said "Understanding is a kind of ecstasy." Carl knew what living with intensity is all about. It is about billions and billions while others live with thousands and thousands.

This quotation of Carl Rogers might illuminate my meaning of disinterested passion and disinterested knowledge.

"I want to talk about learning. But not the lifeless, sterile, futile, quickly forgotten stuff that is crammed in to the mind of the poor helpless individual tied into his seat by ironclad bonds of conformity! I am talking about LEARNING - the insatiable curiosity that drives the adolescent boy to absorb everything he can see or hear or read about gasoline engines in order to improve the efficiency and speed of his 'cruiser'. I am talking about the student who says, "I am discovering, drawing in from the outside, and making that which is drawn in a real part of me." I am talking about any learning in which the experience of the learner progresses along this line: "No, no, that's not what I want"; "Wait! This is closer to what I am interested in, what I need"; "Ah, here it is! Now I'm grasping and comprehending what I need and what I want to know!"

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For sure Chuck-- but "gasoline engine's?

Are you kinky or what?

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I'd rather live life with a sense of humor. Intensity is usually very serious, implying I take myself very seriously, implying I think of myself as important. But, a sense of humor might only be of value in recent times? In another era intensity might have been the preferred personal trait. Who knows?

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I think humor can have great intensity. Look at George Carlin. The man has been doing great stand up for over 50 years. He's 70 years old, and he is still doing 90+ shows a year, plus a live tv concert every few years (a new one in March YAY!!), cds and books. In my opinion, he's the greatest stand up comedian of all time. He's gone before Supreme Court to defend his routine. To say he hasn't approached humor with intensity would be disrespectful.

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fungotheclown wrote:

I think humor can have great intensity. Look at George Carlin. The man has been doing great stand up for over 50 years. He's 70 years old, and he is still doing 90+ shows a year, plus a live tv concert every few years (a new one in March YAY!!), cds and books. In my opinion, he's the greatest stand up comedian of all time. He's gone before Supreme Court to defend his routine. To say he hasn't approached humor with intensity would be disrespectful.

Where did I say anything about George Carlin (your last sentence above)? You brought up George Carlin.

O.K., you are correct in YOUR point. My point was for the ordinary individual that is not a professional comedian. Intensity of one's sense of humor is likely not easy for many people. In fact, since I get lethargic in the winter, which might harken to an earlier version of myself getting ready for winter hibernation, intensity of anything is not what I can maintain throughout the year.

My epitaph might read: He was the antithesis of intense.

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Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you had attacked Carlin (he's kind of a personal hero of mine, so I get kind of excited when I talk about him). It sounds like you are using intensity as a synonym for motivation or personal drive, is this a correct interpretation?

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fungotheclown wrote:

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you had attacked Carlin (he's kind of a personal hero of mine, so I get kind of excited when I talk about him). It sounds like you are using intensity as a synonym for motivation or personal drive, is this a correct interpretation?

I think of "intensity" as a synonym for "exuberance," except exuberance connotes, to me, a joyful intensity. Intensity without joy can be sort of Calvanistic; much gets done, but possibly with little enjoyment.

Exuberance is an outgrowth/effect of intensity, in my opinion, if one is joyful and intense.

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Foofie wrote:

fungotheclown wrote:
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you had attacked Carlin (he's kind of a personal hero of mine, so I get kind of excited when I talk about him). It sounds like you are using intensity as a synonym for motivation or personal drive, is this a correct interpretation?

I think of "intensity" as a synonym for "exuberance," except exuberance connotes, to me, a joyful intensity. Intensity without joy can be sort of Calvanistic; much gets done, but possibly with little enjoyment.

Exuberance is an outgrowth/effect of intensity, in my opinion, if one is joyful and intense.

I think that our greatest intensity comes when we are creating. Understanding is the creation of meaning. Our greatest intensity comes with the development of understanding. Understanding is the mixing bowl of creativity.

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Creating purpose and intensity in life

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