“If you knew how much work went into it, you would not call it genius.”
~ Michelangelo
I’ve been a fan of Michelangelo for a very long time. When I had a chance to go to Italy, I traveled from place to place in order to see his work. While all of his work is amazing, I found his unfinished work to be compelling.
These two statues in particular look almost as if they could shrug, and the rock would leave their shoulders. Even in this uncompleted state, the figures look as if they were real and only needed to shed their stone prisons.
At the time, just a few days after a hard won college degree, I felt like these beings – stuck in stone, ready to shrug off the granite that keep me from being who and what I am. Now, I see them differently.
Having worked to write, I’ve come to see a story, like a sculpture has an innate quality and beauty all its own. My job as novelist is to uncover the stories beauty. I call this ‘telling the story well.’
My favorite Michelangelo sculpture is the Pieta below.
Yes, it’s Mary.
Yes, it’s Jesus.
Yes, it’s something that was commissioned by a Pope and is a story that was told over and over and over and over again.
Standing in front of the statue, I was struck dumb. I stood there for… I’m not sure how long. Hours, I think. I was finally nudged along my way by security.
What struck me?
Mary’s sorrow and resignation. The defeat in both of their postures. This wasn’t a woman holding a deity. This is a statue of a mother – flesh and blood, real and breathing – who’d lost her precious son. Her sorrow is not for the loss of a great being to the world. Her sorrow and resignation is for the simple, human loss of her son.
Standing in front of this statue, I felt as if Michelangelo had stretched through time and touched me.
“Remember, we’re all human,” I heard.
“Remember, we all die,” I heard.
And, as if broadcast loud and clear, I saw and heard:
“Love is all that matters.”
When I read this quote: “If you knew how much work went into it, you would not call it genius,” I realize something significant.
We are born with gifts, but it’s through our work that we hone our gifts.
Work hard, my friends. You never know who’s heart and mind you will touch with your work. You never know when you might touch the heart of someone and inspire them to spread your message.
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