First Published: 2019 January 27
Nehemiah 8:9B: “Today is holy to the LORD your God. Do not lament, do not weep!”
Today’s Gospel reading speaks about Jesus’ return to Galilee, where he reads a passage from the Prophet Isaiah. Here, we see the Lord telling the congregation that, in the words of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, “in accordance with the Scriptures” he has come and fulfilled the words. All in all, it’s one of the more straightforward Gospels, at least to me.
But, as the first reading points out, “today is holy to the Lord.” We should live each day knowing that the Lord loved us so that he took the form of a man and suffered death on a cross for us.
First Published: 2019 January 27
Prereading note: in the interest of my attention span and available time, I left out a lot of the discussion, as well as a lot of the reasoning I have for feeling this way. Mea culpa.
To many people,1 there are two kinds of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic. And, to most of these same people, it’s believed that intrinsic motivation is better. Mostly, this is because external sources may lead you astray or not exist to keep you working, or so the theory goes.
However, I claimed that I am extrinsically motivated. The inevitable straw-man argument came out, namely that since I choose what to listen to, I must be intrinsically motivated. But, that’s not what I was saying. What I was saying2 is that, in my experience so far, I choose activities because of external motivators. Continuing, I’ve realized I even stop doing activities when3 external motivations disappear.
The most clear examples I can think of are why I joined the two choirs I sing at in college. For one, an audition choir, I received an email in June from the director saying that it would be a shame to let the hard work my high school choir director had put in go to waste.4 While getting a signature for that ensemble, my advisor told me that I should also join the early music group. Once in both, I received more external motivation to remain in them than I can think of easily.
Whenever I5 expressed that I felt I brought the average quality of singer down in the first ensemble, I was told that I was a valued member of the ensemble. Whenever any other early musician learns that I play the cornetto, they6 express astonishment, as it’s known as a hard instrument.
And, the final point to making extrinsic motivations work7 is that I’ve learned where to seek external motivators. When I want to feel as though I’ve done a good job, I know where and who to talk to. When I want an excuse to not do something, I do the same. So, while to some, it may seem that I am intrinsically motivated, it helps me live my life better knowing that I am extrinsically motivated.
First Published: 2019 January 26
Yesterday was another long bus ride. I should really remember to finish my posts before getting on them, because they drain me far too much. But, as it was, so it appears to continue to be.
First Published: 2019 January 26
I learned that for a class I am taking about historical improvisation, I need to learn continuo.1 As is to be expected, most of this is scarcely notated, with the assumption that it’ll be composed to fit the performer that day. Unfortunately, as I mentioned to the professor, keyboards and I are not friends.
So, I proposed that I could do continuo on the gothic harp, as I know how to play it.2 But, the gothic harp, as one might expect, is not a chromatic instrument. It has seven notes to an octave, which can be tuned. However, that’s really hard to do in the moment. Hypothetically, I could use my opposite hand to raise a note, but that’s apparently not allowed, as continuo playing needs both. This means that I’ll be learning continuo this semester.
First Published: 2019 January 24
I learned two new dives! 4041 on one meter, and 4052 on three meter. They went varyingly well, depending on how well I jumped. But, they’re both in for this weekend, which is terrifying and exciting.
First Published: 2019 January 22
The last day of break always fills me with mixed emotions. On one hand, it’s always a change, which is scary. On the other, I really miss academics, and the pressure of needing to accomplish tasks. So, I tend to feel mixed, though more positively than negatively.
First Published: 2019 January 21
John 2:3-5: “When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servers, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’”
Today’s readings are a set that my family has always enjoyed. Mostly, it’s due to the non-sequitur in the Gospel. Mary says that there’s no wine, Jesus says it isn’t his problem, and then solves it anyways.
It also leads nicely into the joke I’ve always enjoyed telling friends when they ask why Mary is such a big deal in the Catholic Church.1 Jesus is a good Jewish boy. Good Jewish boys listen to their mother. Mary loves us and listens to all of our prayers. So, if you pray to Mary, Jesus has to listen.
Of course, I have no idea how accurate this joke is theologically, but I hope.
other than the whole mother goddess being adopted from prior pagan traditions↩︎
First Published: 2019 January 21
Today I pr’d again, though by far less. My coach says I missed my entries, which is true.
First Published: 2019 January 18
I pr’d by 50 points in diving today, which was approximately 17%! I’m very excited about this.
First Published: 2019 January 18
Today, I got to watch my little brother at one of his last high school swim meets. During it, he lost his goggles as he started his 100 butterfly. And then he set a new personal best, by a not-insignificant margin. It’s sad when that happens, because now there’s an incentive to dive goggleless.