Recently while in Europe we had the opportunity to see the works of great artists such as Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Michelangelo and daVinci, as well as many more. I’m not a big art enthusiast, but was able to appreciate the different styles, time periods and subjects that were created. Standing in front of well known pieces of art like The Last Supper and Michelangelo’s David was an experience unlike any we can have in the United States. The only thing that really comes close for me personally is being in the room with someone who is dying, someone you know you are visiting with for the last time. There is a sense of reverence, even if you don’t fully understand it.
I found myself wanting to learn more about these great artists; who inspired them, who financially supported them and who encouraged them to be so different than others during their time? Leonardo da Vinci was a scientist, engineer and artist who had so many new ideas that he was constantly drawing and writing to get them onto paper. Did he ever stop to eat and sleep and spend time with those around him? I cannot imagine being a part of his family, or being his friend. Before being recognized as great, was he viewed as crazy and eccentric?
Do you think God made a handful of great artists, primarily during the 1400-1500’s and then stopped?
What if there are people on this earth right now who have the capacity to look way ahead of technology and see the future, or the ability to create music and art unlike anything we have heard or seen?
What if today’s pressures and distractions are so great that these budding geniuses are sitting in cubicles, trying to make enough money to get by instead of having the freedom to create?
Are we giving people room to be good at what God created them to do? Are we encouraging those around us to find their work of art, or insisting they do what we think will make them most successful?
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howsyourlovelife 
Lots of great questions. I hope we have the courage to chase the dreams of our hearts. I hope we love our adventures. I hope we contribute our great works of art even if we never see a penny for them. Thank you for you thought-provoking post!
Great inspirational post! I believe that somewhere along the way many people stop pursuing their dreams after a few set backs in life. Now days we are driven much by results that we lack commitment to the process! I’m sure those great artists that came before us persisted through opposition.. Let’s keep our dreams BIG, but start small!
And that is the glorious beauty of this beast called the internet. For all the bad it can propagate, there is so much light it can shine too. Look at Youtube and WordPress where creators of various stripes can display their product, As a writer, how would I ever be read if all I ever wrote was contained in a pile of spiral binders or legal pad on a closet shelf. Without the comments, likes and stats on my blog, how would I know my thoughts were appreciated, let alone read. We have only just begun to see all of the genius out there.
That is one of the reasons to champion net neutrality and parity of access. It is not beyond the imagination that someone will find a way to monetize the net in a way that will eventually limit access. It may be “smart” for someone to create the “audition” site which will bloom into the site talent scouts use as a got to to not have to slog through Youtube. At that point, budding wannabes might gladly pay $100 to have their product featured for a week or month similar to Freshly Pressed in WP. But, what if you don’t have $100, That’s my worry, that we have a multi-tiered internet and the more money you have, the greater you access to not only all resources but the better resources. The fact that you now have to have broad band for the best functionality of the existing resources, the newest web-browser that is only supported by the newest operating system (goodbye XP and IE 9+) makes it somewhat of a haves-only-invited proposition. Like the public school system, it should be there for the benefit of all and not just those who can afford the latest device and software. It is becoming more and more critical to everyday functioning and we need to keep it as open as possible. Sorry for the rant. I have never put that in print before. Looks like a good topic for my blog. 🙂
Wow, you have lots of ideas! That’s exactly what I was talking about – so many possibilities that can get squelched along the way. Thanks for you comment!
It’s easy to have lots of ideas when I purloin them from other people like you. 🙂