Your Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo, De Vinci, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Raphael) all famous artist, thinkers, and builders of their time, that created a masterpiece.
So how does this relate to fitness? Your passion? Your very being?
Let me see if I can explain it.....
First, this original blog came to mind after a friend of mine stopped me and asked me what I did over the weekend?
This question took me back a little because my weekends usually consist of sleeping, eating, and working out! Then I rinse and repeat. I told my friend this and they simply shook their head and stated "You need to get out and have some fun."
This final statement got me thinking, am I missing out on life?
Am I not having fun or truly missing the big picture?
After my mini freak out, my passion and this blog idea smacked me square in the face.
Simply I have more fun going to the gym and chasing after an image or idea in my head than I do actually go out to different places or try other things.
There is something about honing a skill, making another small cut, adding in more mass, working to get the best quality rep all to obtain my own masterpiece, that drives me and allows me to have fun everyday!
In simple terms I have created and fell in love with a lifestyle that not only do I have fun with but don't have to take a day off from. (I'm talking about fitness in this case)
This set me on the trail of thinking how we all are like sculptors chipping away at a passion, idea, image, etc.. in life and we determine where to strike the stone or how much strength and pressure to apply to make the smallest of improvements to reach that vision.
Somehow this transpired into me thinking of Michelangelo and painting the Sistine Chapel.
His greatest works were seen by many as being brilliant when they were done but few could match him for the passion he displayed for painting, architecture, sculpting, and things he enjoyed in life.
Few would understand that the masterpieces that he created where first seen in his mind but would take years to complete. It took him 4 years to paint the Sistine Chapel.
In those four years while he was painting the masterpiece, records show that he poured himself into the work at hand. Sleeping, wearing the same clothes, and spending hours at the task at hand and missing meals, eventually producing one of the greatest works the world has ever seen.
Now, I'm not saying I'm Michelangelo. However, for me I picture a masterpiece, my body, and all it can be. At the same time I also picture myself being the artist that can and is making it happen.
My own masterpiece and canvas is my own body. The 258 lb canvas is no more and I have been able to sculpt, paint, and chisel a new image over the years.
My blank canvas to its current condition is a parallel idea, similar to that of Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. I'm just in the middle of creating my own perceived masterpiece.
Now this parallel can be implemented by most. By the passion they seek or are pursing. You are creating the very masterpiece you see fit for your life. Your life, how you inspire others, how you motivate the people around you, are all strokes in your masterpiece.
Some days these strokes are bold and vibrant that really make the masterpiece stand out, while others are more subtle working on the smallest details that steal a persons breathe away, truly making the piece of work shine.
We all are painting, sculpting, or chiseling a different masterpiece. We all have different visions, passions, and goals we want to accomplish.
Even with all own visions, goals, passions, all driving us in different areas one of the coolest and profound ideas struck me. We all need each other to create the masterpiece we individually seek.
Let me see if I can explain this!
Say Michelangelo painted in nothing but black, the Sistine Chapel (while it still would be impressive) wouldn't stand out or it wouldn't be different. Adding colors on the other hand not only made the work stand out but created an icon everyone can relate to.
This is the same thing with people that are passionate about the same things we all find individually pleasing, or even someone who brings a different way of thinking to the table. Each person can be considered a color or a masterpiece made up of a variety of colors.
Some of these colors you have seen before, some of them you have never even heard of or seen before. More importantly their ideas, training methods, implementation, and thoughts are all different colors.
These colors when mixed with your own can produce both the most beautiful and vibrant colors ever seen or some of the most revolting colors.
Whatever color is produced we as an individual then take the colors we see fit for our own masterpieces and apply them in a new way, making more new colors.
This process is repeated and sooner or later the individual masterpiece can start to be seen. Other colors are found and then incorporated enhancing the image and it builds and builds until the artist decides the piece is finished.
Personally I think if we step back and look at a passion in our lives we all can relate to this type of concept.
For some of us we are still painting for others you have created your masterpiece and can pass on your own wisdom to the next person in line.
So now that I have thought about it for a while, that comment made by my friend brings a smile to my face. I have fun everyday, I get to paint another stroke into my masterpiece everyday, I get to experience and implement a new color with every person I meet.
Knowing this and identifying it, I hope I can provide a little color to the masterpiece you are creating and having fun doing so. I hope that my own personal experiences can help you create a color that can enhance your own work, big or small.
I know that everyone I have come in contact with, am inspired by, or have been motivated, you have presented an opportunity to be able to work on my own masterpiece and bring it to its current state.
For that I want to thank each and everyone of you.
My hope is to help someone and provide the same to anyone looking to change and let them know that a new color for their masterpiece is just waiting to be discovered.
The masterpiece you desire comes from within so if you are painting your Sistine Chapel or inspiring others to start, keep going and help them create something they deem masterful.
-The Iron Pulse
(all images are linked by to original source)
