Andre Agassi -- what a hero, retired, but active -- still a hero.Agassi is 43. Reggie is is 67.
From Agassi, I sense defensiveness and anger, and also, the passion to win -- the same something that I sensed when he was a wild-haired, killer tennis-player at the start of his career, when he was rising professionally.
From Reggie, I get a feeling of honesty, energy, confidence -- the fearlessness, of a man who's taken chances before and won.
Why do I discuss the two of them at the same time? Because they are well known names, heroes, winners -- each defined, partially, by what was important in the world as they were conquering the art of a sport. I sense, a similar drive in the heroes and heroines who emerge in an art, be it theater, painting, writing, dancing, or any of the arts, as well sports.
Yes, a small flame, a spark ignites, and burns. No, it's not a flame that consumes and turns the body, its source, into ashes. It's a flame that lights up the mind -- an internal, eternal flame, that intensifies, heightens, and transforms the senses -- eyes, ears, taste, touch, and smell, all five senses -- into receptive magnets that pull in, take in, all that is there to be consumed.
The person has a focus -- a commitment to that heightened state.
So Andre Agassi, still young, hugely successful, is at a stage of life where he is examining his success, not what he loved about it, but what he hated.
While Reggie Jackson, more than half-way up the mountain we climb as we age, looks out at the world, safe in the place where he paused. And he perceives -- with that super five-senses sensibility -- the world of his art, and delights in sharing what he perceives.
Both men are remarkable, but artist Em, viewing them with her own heightened senses, observes that there is something for all of us to grasp, and learn from them.
Listen and learn from Andre Agassi.
What do you feel, what do you sense, when you watch and listen to Reggie Jackson?
Here he is with Belinda Luscombe --click answering her 10 questions.
Posts
2 comments:
Em, you picked a fine example with Andre Agassi. Agassi is one of our "hometown" boys and has done amazing work for the youth of Las Vegas- much of which goes unpublished, but not unnoticed. As he has become wiser, the "heightened state" once focused on his athleticism has remained fine tuned, sharp and undeniably targeted, but now his opponents are the obstacles to those less fortunate than he and his family. If only we all could learn from what we "hate" in our trek to "professionalism" THEN take those perceptions, as Andre has, and use such to make his/our world a better place..."what a wonderful world this would be". Thanks Em for another prod to Pawpawdude's "thinking" brain cells. Certainly, a very worthy "share" to others.
Emily, thanks again for sharing your gift of wisdom to us all. Love you :)
Post a Comment