I have always wondered why the familiar quote wasn't the other way around. Doesn't the artist draw inspiration from life, then twist it, bend it, soften it, refine it and produce something elevated from the mundane, coarse, and common? Oscar Wilde, however, claims that "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life".
I am becoming a believer.
Recently I have watched as the influence of a song lyric has woven itself into my psyche; it has touched my heart, leaving me at random times with inexplicable tears. How could the merest suggestion of lyric and melody ring with such truth? It is just a song and yet it expresses a universal longing.
Last Christmas I was given a unique gift. It wasn't the extravagance of the gift that provoked my wonder; it was the complete and utter confidence in me, which it showed, that I have found to be the most profound. My husband believed in my talent enough to buy me a glass fusion kiln. Through this gesture he has shown his love for me as well as his license to continue forward in adding this new skill to my wheelhouse.In anticipation of firing up my new toy, I have prepared a beautiful studio. I have purchased furnishings and supplies which would enable me to create to my heart's content. There is even plenty of workspace to have others join me in playing with glass.
With everything in place, just short of being able to plug in the kiln, I completed the initial stages of my first project. I was inspired by an image that symbolizes the haunting melody which I have recently found so inspiring.
Little did I realize that the final task of actually plugging the kiln in would become fraught with roadblocks. At every turn there have been delays, setbacks, obstacles, and even what seems an insurmountable impossibility. With patience I will press forward, certain that anything worthwhile comes at a greater price. Truly the impossible just takes a little longer.
Therefore, it is a strange paradox that my unfired project is a windmill.
For those familiar with Don Quixote, the windmill is symbolic of a wanderer's impossible quest, something tauntingly just out of reach. In the musical Man of La Mancha, that quest of Don Quixote is described musically with the stirring passion of unfulfilled dreams, and the strength that comes through the search, the patience, the dedication to a quest.
I haven't given up. Someday soon I will be able to access enough voltage to be able to plug the silly thing in. I'm not sure exactly what hoops I will have to jump through to do it. Nor how many windmills I must challenge before I am finally triumphant.
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far
To fight for the right without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell for an Heavenly cause
And I know if I'll only be true To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest
And the world will be better for this
That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star
