visit the Holocaust Museum Houston, my dear friend Sophia (Artistic Director of Psophonia Dance Company) wrote to me and shared that for her, "the whole experience was very moving." Aside from a curious synchronicity between her kinesthetic art and her description as moving, I decided to investigate the etymology of moving as it relates to being affected emotionally and deeply. Of course, as we dissect the word emotion, we find easily a semantic connection with the root of both words.Googling moving proved disastrous as I was over bombarded with companies wanting to help me move to a new home and store my valuables. Wikipedia was not helpful at all, as it concentrated on the moving industry. I did learn however about music albums named as such (Pater, Paul and Mary), about a Japanese film and a British sitcom.As the words etymology, emotion and moving were swirling around in my consciousness, I searched for the etymology of emotion. Therein lay my answer and I found it fascinating.
Paul Thomas Young in his book "Motivation of Behavior - the Fundamentals Determinants of Human and Animal Activity" explains that the word emotion is derived from the Latin e (out) and movere (to move). Originally, in the 1600s the word was associated with migration, to move from one place into another. In the 1700s, the physical meaning was gradually transfered to political and social agitation. He associates the meaning to tumult and popular disturbance. It was later in 1762 that it was used to describe any agitated or excited mental state of an individual. Other online dictionaries supported this semantic development.
Interestingly, there seems to be a negative connotation when one describes an individual as emotional. We assume they are unstable, inadequate and weak, not unlike its roots. We associated its origins with strong feelings, developing into conscious emotions, and moving into irrational behavior. When we describe an artistic work as emotional, we assign it a special power to move (not to be redundant) and to affect our physiological state in terms of mood, temperament, disposition, and possible personality. That indeed, is a positive attribute.
This also brought light to another colloquialism many of us use: fleeting emotions: something that passes quickly, always in transition and fades away. My experience at the Holocaust Museum Houston will not be fleeting and will not be forgotten.
I had the opportunity to view the Besa: Muslims Who Saved Jews During the Holocaust exhibit. In Albania, Besa is the code of honor "to keep the promise" and featured photography by Norman H. Gershman. I learned about many heroes that remained unrecognized for a long period of time given the political climate in Eastern Europe. The photography was soft, emotive and captured the beauty and sanctity of the essence of the personalities pictured.
(Left) Nadire Proseku, holding a photograph of her husband - Lived near a Train Station in Tirana - Muslim, protected three Jewish strangers. (Right) Petraq Xhimitku (back) and Sofir Simsia (front) standing in the wall where his father was set to be executed for sheltering Jews from Kosovo, saved by a partisan group who moments before, shot the executing officers.
I was moved, although the stereotypical fleeting emotion will certainly stay with me for a long time, perhaps weaving in and out of consciousness. The beauty lay in the bravery and purity of intentions that came out of horrible adversity and unimaginable circumstances. Perhaps, like Ashley McLean and Traci Matlock, I had found the sublime.
Below are also photographs of a train used to transport entire targeted communities to concentration and death camps. Amazing to think what is now a stationary exhibit in a museum may have been many people's last memory. I encourage you to see it for yourself.
