For those of you who don't know, I am homeschooling my son, Connor, this year. It is actually very good for me to retake third grade. I missed most of it the first time.
Today I learned something that blew my mind: Michelangelo hated painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Hated it.
If I had been his coach, I would have asked him why.
He would have told me that his boss was a tyrant and that he didn't see himself as a painter-he believed he was a sculptor. He would have told me he missed his family in Florence and that the pay was inconsistent.
Then, as his coach, I might have asked him why he didn't quit.
I know.
I am so glad I wasn't his coach.
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is one of the most inspired and beautiful things I have ever seen. How could he have hated doing it? How could he have spent four years making something so amazing and not enjoyed it?
It makes me wonder. . .
What if he had followed his "North Star" and not done the thing he hated?
I cringe at the thought.
And then I wonder...
What might he have created (and loved creating) in those four years instead?
Or was the Sistine Chapel his North Star and he just didn't realize it at the time?
I don't have the answers.
But it does make me think about my own life, and if I have a small verison of my own Sistine Chapel that I might hate doing but I am meant to do it because of all the joy and inspiration it might give to others.
Did he love it when it was done? Was it worth it to him?
I know it was to me.
