William Blake

“Without Unceasing Practice nothing can be done. Practice is Art. If you leave off you are Lost.”

-- William Blake

The idea that artistic virtuosity requires a lot of work and practice is a familiar insight, but I love the way that Mr. Frye puts it in explicating Blake’s idea.

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“We are all born in dependence upon an outer world, and only gradually learn to united it to our minds. Hence repetition and imitation are the beginning of art; they are what we call practice. There can be nothing effortless for the powerful imagination bursting its way out of a fallen world. Nothing sluggish or inert has any place in art, and that is why art is difficult.”

-- Northrop Frye, “Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake”

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Your 5 Best Friends

"Recent research suggests that only about half of perceived friendships are mutual."

-- NY Times headline blurb

Et tu, Brute? If you have the money, I have the time. Well, what do you want? undying love? Enjoy the good times and learn from the bad times.

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“There is a limited amount of time and emotional capital we can distribute, so we only have five slots for the most intense type of relationship,” Mr. Dunbar said. “People may say they have more than five but you can be pretty sure they are not high-quality friendships.”

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In the presence of a true friend, Dr. Banks said, the smart or modulating aspect of the vagus nerve is what makes us feel at ease rather than on guard as when we are with a stranger or someone judgmental. It’s what enables us to feel O.K. about exposing the soft underbelly of our psyche and helps us stay engaged and present in times of conflict. Lacking authentic friendships, the smart vagus nerve is not exercised. It loses tone and one’s anxiety remains high, making abiding, deep connections difficult.

So it’s worth identifying who among the many people you encounter in your life are truly friends. Who makes time for you? Whose company enlivens, enriches and maybe even humbles you? Whom would you miss? Who would miss you? While there is no easy or agreed upon definition, what friendships have in common is that they shape us and create other dimensions through which to see the world. This can be for better or worse depending on whom we choose as friends. As the saying goes, “Show me your friends and I will show you who you are.”

-- Kate Murphy at The New York Times

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