THE SELF IMPOSED DUNGEON
In the town of Florence, Italy we have some of the best ever human sculpted figures ever known. One of them is a life size sculpture of the Biblical David-an imposing fine work that seems so real that a nudge would make him come back to life. The sculptures were made by Michelangelo-one of the foremost Renaissance artiste. It’s said that sometimes, he would work madly on a sculpture on inspired days, and then leave it unfinished for reasons unknown. The people of Florence call those sculptures ‘the prisoners of Michelangelo’. This is because they believe that if he was to come back and finish them, they would come alive because they are so real.
Across the sea in the majestic Germany floats some sweet cantata from one of the most gifted classical music composers-Ludwig Beethoven. Beethoven was a mad genius and even today his works are considered ahead of their times. Their sheer beauty, tour de force and skill still stir many hearts to date.
The talents of the above artistes are enjoyed by people across the world. What is not known to many is that Michangelo was almost blind from the age of 37, but went on to live to ripe old age of 89 and produce more works of art. He could only sculpt based on the forms he felt with his hands. Beethoven, on the other hand, was stone deaf from the age of 26 and thus orchestrated symphonies he could only hear in his mind. The pieces he composed when he was deaf are considered even better than his earlier ones.
Napoleon, one of most spectacular war generals the world ever had-was awfully short.Infact he used to wear a strange long cap and shoes with longer soles to create the impression that he was taller. His men used to call him ‘le petit general’ or ‘the little general’. However, they still held in awe this man who conquered almost all the continental Europe and Russia at one time.
What do the lives of these three men teach us? That disability is a self-imposed dungeon- an excuse not to exceed. Nature always knows how to balance stuff. It may deny us the legs to be fine sportsmen, but it will compensate us with linguistic skills to be the best sports commentators. We may not have the thunder hips of some tinsel town sex goddess who rules the world from the silver screen, but nothing prevents us from ruling people’s heart through music, poetry or any other occupation where looks are not paramount.
Nature always equips us with all that we need to leave footprints on the sand of time-only if we break ourselves free from the self-imposed dungeons of doubt and fear.
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©Gilbert Mwangi
24/7/2013
