Michelangelo

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.