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| Old guy with a guitar by Picasso |
Never
mind the title of my post. It’s not an attempt to plagiarize Dan Brown’s work.
Matter-of-factly, it’s the furthest thing on my mind at the moment. You could
say it’s a shot at reinforcing Pablo Picasso’s words,
My
mother said to me, “if you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are
a monk, you will become the Pope.’
Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso.
Don’t
you just adore the audacity of that declaration? What does it take to be able
to quote you; to stand on the mountaintop and speak across the
stretch of a lifetime, and have the echo of your words carry across meadows,
out-of-the-way prairies, through the most unlikely crannies of the earth many
generations after your soul dissolves into eternity?
Picasso
showed a passion and a skill for drawing from an early age; according to his
mother, his first words were ‘piz, piz ’, a shortening of ‘lápiz’, the Spanish word
for ‘pencil’. Wikipedia
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| Picasso |
In
1900, after studying Art in Madrid,
Picasso moved over to Paris where he made friends with Max Jacob (journalist
and poet) with whom he shared apartment. They had a sort of sleeping timetable.
Max maxed out at night, while Picasso stole a wink during the day and worked
all night long. Those were tough days and reeked of cold and despair, so
Picasso torched quite a few of his work to keep the small room warm.
Really,
I’m not about to do a run up of Picasso’s bio you can look that up on Wikipedia if you
like. These are vital lessons from a simple, extraordinary life. Something
anybody who finds it in their heart to be sincere about their personal call in
life ought to take and run with it.
He
can who thinks he can, Picasso says, and he
can’t who thinks he can’t.
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| Portrait by Picasso |
Is
it really possible to surround yourself with all the tools of a life on the
verge of explosion – a dream, ambition, and ammunition – and still miss the
mark? Oh, I’ve heard of people missing the mark by over a mile riding popular
opinion. But this is as different from that as a whiff from a whim.
Close
your eyes and imagine a picture perfect portrait of you in other people’s
opinion. Now, create another picture, this time on a personal
canvas, a painting of you as who you ought to be. Step back and assess your
progress in the race to the finish line.
Have
you been a butt kisser?
Would
your life, ten to twenty years from this moment in time echo Picasso’s words?
Picasso
was exceptionally prolific throughout his long lifetime. The total number of
artworks he produced has been estimated at 50,000,
comprising 1,885 paintings; 1,228 sculptures; 2,880 ceramics, roughly 12,000 drawings,
many thousands of prints, and numerous tapestries and rugs. Wikipedia
My
hope is that in this brief diagram of a life fulfilled you have witnessed
something more to challenge you for the rest of your life.
Let
your pen bleed!
Akpan
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