Can You Borrow The Gold Of Bold
Dorothea Brande's book "Wake Up and Live" has sold over two million copies since it was written during the Great Depression. It's a classic I've read multiple times, and with each reading, a new spark flies off its pages to ignite something in me. One of my favorite inspirational messages is found there:
"Act boldly, and unseen forces will come to your aid."
The boldness of the message of her book is pure gold. I unashamedly borrow it each time I open it.
As a potter, I'm not inclined to great personal inspiration for what pieces I create. The joy of pottery for me is in the process and the alchemy of the kiln. But somehow, each time I sit down with clay, my mind knows where to take my hands. How? The time I've spent looking at other potters' work, far more advanced than I will likely ever be. I don't think in terms of whether I can. I think about what would happen if I tried. I'm borrowing the gold of other potters' bold in every one of my pieces.
My daughter is a natural artist. She brings art to everything she does. Especially her baking. Her daughters are growing up with memories of the most incredible, divine birthday cakes you can imagine. How? She asks them what they want each year, and whatever they come up with is what she creates. Some of their ideas are very bold, and yet she pulls it off. The gold in those ideas is something she translates into her bold creations.
Each of these examples is personal to me, but I'm sure you can see yourself in them because we've all done it without even realizing it. We borrow the gold from someone else's bold and then make it our own.
It's an essential reminder because sometimes we stop paying attention to what is happening all around us. The inspiration is there whenever we are willing to see it and then act on it.
The German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said he found gold in the boldness of Shakespeare and credits it for his personal awakening. Quite a testament to the power of what can be inspired within us by the work of others. What's important is to allow it to inspire and then take the reins and move it forward to make it our own.
Borrow the gold to make it your own.
Our true legacies will always be what we leave in others for them to build upon. It begins with what we do with what is instilled in us.
Let's agree with Goethe when he offered these words:
"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."
