I don't know how I made it through 5 weeks of Herrang before, because one week of dance week is really draining me. I'm ready to return to my bed, but I will miss the coffee here in SF. Ritual is some of the best I've had.
What does it mean to be great? I think greatness requires confidence, relaxation, self-knowledge. I'm not sure if it requires humility. It certainly does not require a false humility, and I think that much of the recognized humility in the world is of an affected sort. I think that the truly humble man knows himself to be great. The humble man is humble before God, and therefore before his fellow man, but never in a way that makes him smaller. The humble man recognizes and respects resources and gifts - he uses them accordingly. The falsely humble man destroys them in the name of humility, or fear, or piety. This is the story of the talents told in the Gospels.
But back to my real question. I think greatness is full of spontaneity - or at least this is how it seems to me. My suspicion is that the great person is not spontaneous in the sense we think of it - that is, spontaneous meaning random or unrestricted by laws. I think the great person has understood whatever laws are governing us, and in doing so, is able to move freely within them. To the uneducated eye, this would appear as spontaneity or even madness. This is essentially what we seek in dance or the other arts. We need to understand the rules of the game, but not be bound by them. Understanding the rules, we are free to emerge as a Mondrian, but it is our understanding not our disregard of the rules that allow us to achieve that state.
Though this is the desired end in the dance, it seems to me to be an apt metaphor for the end of life. If I could understand why we're all so WORRIED, then I could be free from it. At least that's the thought.
