Tuesday, May 06, 2014
Great And Wonderful Things
“ I am accustomed, most of all at night, when the agitation of my soul fills me with cares, and I seek relief from these bitter worries and sad thoughts, to think about and construct in my mind some unheard-of machine to move and carry weights, making possible to create great and wonderful things.”
Attributed to Agnolo Pandolfini by Leon Battista Alberti, Della tranquillita dell’animo
This quote came out of a series of dialogues from the renaissance about remedies for how to raise your spirit and overcome depression. According to author Ross King, our speaker who had himself been through much suffering lists “traditional remedies such as wine, music women and sports”, but that this was his most successful tactic. By allowing his mind to fantasize about creating “great and wonderful things”. What a great way to focus our attention away from the troubles that the world serves up daily. It is also a great contrast to the kinds of remedies that our culture has prescribed. I find that the many choices of distractions, actually creates even more stress. Think about how hard it is to shut off the noise of our daily grind. You lie there at night wondering whether what you said or did met the expectations of others. Maybe going through those unfinished projects, and all that has to be done. How much more fun it is to imagine constructing some ‘unheard-of’ idea! To appreciate Agnolo’s revelation, you have to also know that he was speaking within the famous Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. This revolutionary structure was the place of the famous dome, created by Brunelleschi, built with innovative and breakthrough inventions. I find this important because it also directs us to discovering our own inspirational place. By journeying there we can allow ourselves to see beyond the day-to-day difficulties and into the expanded reality of our own inventiveness. Also, there is incredible energy that is released as we imagine the creation of any idea. Angolo’s imagining “some unheard-of machine to move and carry weights” is both functional and metaphorical. Our ability to think of new ideas, new concepts and innovative solutions works in shifting priorities, as well as moving away the weights of the world. It also points out our ridiculous instinct to worry, which accomplishes nothing. Instead, if we focus our minds eye on dreaming, creating and innovating new ideas, think of how much more we can accomplish. As he said, by doing this we, ‘make possible’ that ability to create ‘great and wonderful things’.
Andy Siditsky
Attributed to Agnolo Pandolfini by Leon Battista Alberti, Della tranquillita dell’animo
This quote came out of a series of dialogues from the renaissance about remedies for how to raise your spirit and overcome depression. According to author Ross King, our speaker who had himself been through much suffering lists “traditional remedies such as wine, music women and sports”, but that this was his most successful tactic. By allowing his mind to fantasize about creating “great and wonderful things”. What a great way to focus our attention away from the troubles that the world serves up daily. It is also a great contrast to the kinds of remedies that our culture has prescribed. I find that the many choices of distractions, actually creates even more stress. Think about how hard it is to shut off the noise of our daily grind. You lie there at night wondering whether what you said or did met the expectations of others. Maybe going through those unfinished projects, and all that has to be done. How much more fun it is to imagine constructing some ‘unheard-of’ idea! To appreciate Agnolo’s revelation, you have to also know that he was speaking within the famous Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. This revolutionary structure was the place of the famous dome, created by Brunelleschi, built with innovative and breakthrough inventions. I find this important because it also directs us to discovering our own inspirational place. By journeying there we can allow ourselves to see beyond the day-to-day difficulties and into the expanded reality of our own inventiveness. Also, there is incredible energy that is released as we imagine the creation of any idea. Angolo’s imagining “some unheard-of machine to move and carry weights” is both functional and metaphorical. Our ability to think of new ideas, new concepts and innovative solutions works in shifting priorities, as well as moving away the weights of the world. It also points out our ridiculous instinct to worry, which accomplishes nothing. Instead, if we focus our minds eye on dreaming, creating and innovating new ideas, think of how much more we can accomplish. As he said, by doing this we, ‘make possible’ that ability to create ‘great and wonderful things’.
Andy Siditsky
# posted by Unknown @ 4:36 PM 
