Canadian Artist – Craig Mutch (Fiesa participant)
Day 22 of the Grammy Chase leads me through the sand. Sand has always served as a metaphor as well as a literal depiction of a grueling and trying travel or search for knowledge, food, water, land, etc. So today’s inspiration comes by way of Portugal and artisans around the world that participate in the annual sand sculpture event called Fiesa. I feel that my goal is best resembled by the incredible work of the hundreds of artists that create behemoth larger than life sculptures from sand. If my dreams were made of sand I’d concur with all of the troubles and obstacles that these artist must go through to complete their masterpieces. Structures crumbling; Wind shifting sand into your eyes; Threats of rain and outside conditions out of your control; Time management and lastly, having to really let go and step away at some point, as it’s just temporary beauty.
This post reminded me that no matter the nature or size of your goal or project, be it temporary of permanent, short or long term, it must be seen through to completion with conviction, diligence and detail. This applies to term papers, thesis, weight loss, house repair, fasting etc. When you’re on a journey, whether short or long, what makes the journey meaningful is not necessarily reaching the end but the things that you discover along the way that create the traveling experience. Along this particular Grammy Chase journey I found this lying along the side of the road.
More amazing sand sculptures at Fiesa SITE
Thinking back a few years, I remember attending the Allentown Art Festival with my family facing the daunting task of finding a decent parking spot somewhere near. The Allentown Art Festival is a yearly event in Buffalo that features artisans from around the world selling their crafts and it is attended my tens of thousands of people. Now take into consideration how many vehicles must be cluttering the already tiny and cramped village like scene in Allentown. So, finding a parking space “NEAR” the festival is nearly impossible. It was a gorgeous day out, so I just decided to forgo finding a “close” parking spot and meandered further downtown about a mile and a half or so from the event where parking spots were certain. I’ll shorten this a bit, as to stick to my point. My destination was to get back to my family at the event, but it was all the steps and interesting things along the way that made that journey significant, not the event itself. As I was walking down a side street that lead directly to the festival, a portion of the sidewalk was extremely out of line and elevated beneath the roots of this massive tree, with a massive trunk that I can’t even begin to guess at its diameter. So as I approach closer to the tree I see a metal plate nailed to it that indicated it as one of the “oldest” trees in Buffalo. Had I been driving like usual, I would’ve missed that little gem along the way. Then there were even some homes that had cast iron plates on them as well indicating when they were erected providing a little unknown history lesson along the way. All that to say, my journey was enriched with something as nearly as important as making it to the event.
