the lost man chronicles
77. appreciating the creative efforts of others

The truest and most worthy form of appreciation of any work of creation which merits recognition for its beauty, would be to appreciate it for at least as long as it took to create it, if not longer.

Perhaps, we come closest to paying such things the respect they deserve when we play a composition over and over again until something or someone new catches our attention; or when we give it personal meaning by attaching it to a ritual or fond memory in our life.

There is an inherent and quite normal imbalance between the effort which was requisite to render a moment of inspiration into a relatively permanent manifestation of glory—and the energy with which we enjoy the results via hurried museum glances, the slow dances when the music is merely the conduit to dynamic art (i.e. love in the making), or the rereading of a few passages from an inspirational book.

This skewed relationship between the energy endowed and the cursory effort made to extract its meaning is like gleaming merely the glimmer of that light which glosses over an epiphany—and it is this disequilibrium that leads us to awe.

This is why the Sistine chapel, the cathedrals of Notre Dame, the Taj Mahal, Mecca, the pyramids or any skyscraper that scrapes the sky—all implore us to sigh and bow before them. Everything from these architectural wonders to simple love songs, insightful verse and our greatest epics—are all works which too readily we take for granted.

We don't need to actually spend time paying homage or genuflecting or praying in their general direction, but we should realize how incredibly fortunate we each are to know them, and to be moved both by the small and gargantuan efforts of man, men and women. For life becomes quite amazing when you realize how amazing it really is.

"Out of great love and meditativeness the Taj Mahal came into existence. It still carries the vibe. It is not an ordinary monument, it is special. So are the pyramids in Egypt, and there are many, many things in the world created as objective art—created by those who knew what they were doing, created by great mediators. So are the Upanishads, so are the sutras of Buddha, so are Jesus' statements." ~ Creativity, osho




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