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| Philadelphia's Magic Gardens |
Musing…
Speaking of magic…picking up where I left off in “Starting
Point” post;
“Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you
can make anything happen.” ― Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe
Charise’s Turn:
On a recent trip to visit a friend
in Philadelphia I toured “Magic Gardens”, built by artist Isaiah Zagar. How he
saw what he could do with a vacant lot in the South Street neighborhood of Philly
is genius. Like a dancer in an empty room, or a writer with
an empty page, he filled what was “vacant” with his imagination. He made rooms
of mosaics; tiling walls, floors, stairways, and ceilings. He spent fourteen
years making this environment, and nearly lost it eight years into the project when
the owner of the lot opted to sell. At that point, the community stepped in to
support Zagar’s vision so he could continue. The gardens are open every day.
You might say that the magic of these gardens is
the experience of a mosaic wonderland unlike anything anywhere else. But what I feel I'm seeing there is an outpouring of devotion. Devotion to sustaining a creative
vision at all costs.
As Stendhal says, “The man of genius is he and he alone who finds such joy in
his art that he will work at it come hell or high water.”
Get
Fired Up:
Bring out the ideas, sketches, notes, that you
have set aside for some reason or another and imagine what it would be like to
see one through to completion. Maybe you abandoned an idea you had for a story
or article, or forgot about an image you had in mind to craft or build or paint
or photograph or choreograph. Imagine going further with your inspiration, and keep
going.. keep going.
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