The Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building each took only about two years to build. Even the 2,717-foot-tall Burj Khalifa took only six years to construct. Speed. Who wants to wait decades for something?
To enter the Baptistery of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, one has to go through double doors designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. They are works of art that Michelangelo called the Gates of Paradise. Lorenzo started the doors at the very beginning of the fifteenth century and completed the project in 1452. It took him a half-century to finish his doors. Because he died in 1455, he could admire his work for only three years. Unlike modern buildings, the cathedral itself took nearly a century and a half to construct. In comparison to the period of the cathedral's construction, Lorenzo’s fifty-year time on the door project might not seem excessively long, especially to someone living hundreds of years later.
But, of course, no one today has to wait for the sculptor to finish his work. The doors are already finished.
And that’s the way it is with a bottle of Scotch. Some distilleries age their whisky 12 years, some 18 years, and some as many as 34 years. Thirty-four years! Goodness! The person who started the process might not even live to taste the final product (which, by the way, is very expensive: Glenmorangie Pride 1978 sells for $5,799.99).
If you want to produce something as good as the baptistery doors of Ghiberti or 34-year-old Scotch, you might have to take your time. You’ll have to have some patience. The time will pass slowly for you, but to one drinking Glenmorangie Pride 1978 or to another walking through Ghiberti’s doors, its passing is insignificant. The people of the present see only the product of the past and not its passing.
What’s your “door” or “Scotch”? Like Lorenzo Ghiberti or some Scotch distiller maybe you will have only a short time to enjoy the completed product. But then unlike anyone else, you will have had the joy of making. Go ahead, take your time. You can be assured that although others will never comprehend the duration of your efforts, they will certainly admire what you created.
To enter the Baptistery of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, one has to go through double doors designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti. They are works of art that Michelangelo called the Gates of Paradise. Lorenzo started the doors at the very beginning of the fifteenth century and completed the project in 1452. It took him a half-century to finish his doors. Because he died in 1455, he could admire his work for only three years. Unlike modern buildings, the cathedral itself took nearly a century and a half to construct. In comparison to the period of the cathedral's construction, Lorenzo’s fifty-year time on the door project might not seem excessively long, especially to someone living hundreds of years later.
But, of course, no one today has to wait for the sculptor to finish his work. The doors are already finished.
And that’s the way it is with a bottle of Scotch. Some distilleries age their whisky 12 years, some 18 years, and some as many as 34 years. Thirty-four years! Goodness! The person who started the process might not even live to taste the final product (which, by the way, is very expensive: Glenmorangie Pride 1978 sells for $5,799.99).
If you want to produce something as good as the baptistery doors of Ghiberti or 34-year-old Scotch, you might have to take your time. You’ll have to have some patience. The time will pass slowly for you, but to one drinking Glenmorangie Pride 1978 or to another walking through Ghiberti’s doors, its passing is insignificant. The people of the present see only the product of the past and not its passing.
What’s your “door” or “Scotch”? Like Lorenzo Ghiberti or some Scotch distiller maybe you will have only a short time to enjoy the completed product. But then unlike anyone else, you will have had the joy of making. Go ahead, take your time. You can be assured that although others will never comprehend the duration of your efforts, they will certainly admire what you created.
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