Fishers High School

THE POWER OF A VISION In the year 1464, a church in Florence, Italy commissioned local artists to create a series of sculptures depicting biblical heroes they planned to display in and around the church. One of those initial assignments when to a young sculptor named Agostino di Duccio. The church purchased a massive block of marble from the famous Italian Carrara quarry - almost 20 feet tall and weighing over 15,000 pounds - and di Duccio got to work. The first thing he did was make a catastrophic mistake. In an attempt to create the space between the statue’s legs, di Duccio inadvertently bored a hole in the wrong spot - right where the legs were meant to be. Embarrassed, the young artist admitted he’d essentially ruined the stone, and he abandoned the project before it had really even begun. Church leaders had the massive block of damaged marble moved into the courtyard behind the church, where it sat untouched for more than 10 years. In 1475, those church leaders revisited the sculpture project and hired a new artist to salvage di Duccio's mistake. That new artist, Antonio Rosselino, had the marble pulled from out behind the church for examination. Not only was the hole di Duccio drilled in an impossible position, Rosselino realized, but more than 10 years worth of exposure to the outdoor elements had deteriorated the quality of the marble itself. The church’s next man up walked away from the project without ever even starting. The marble stone was returned to its storage location behind the church. There it sat for another 25 years. Finally, in 1501 - almost 40 years after the initial project was commissioned - the church made one last gasp effort to get the job done. They hired a young, up-and-coming artist for the sculpture, 26 year-old Michelangelo Buonarroti. The marble block was once again drug from the courtyard, weathered by years of exposure and still bearing the scar of di Duccio’s blunder from decades earlier. Michelangelo studied the stone, examined its imperfections, and came eventually to his conclusion. “I’ll do it,” he agreed. On September 13 of that year, Michelangelo started chipping away. Over the next two and a half years, he meticulously carved what would become the statue of David, widely regarded today as the most iconic and most acclaimed sculpture in the history of the modern world. David stands nearly 17 feet tall and weighs more than 12,000 pounds, carved from a single block of stone that for almost 40 years had been deemed too flawed to have any value or significance. (You might notice David’s slightly uneven stance. Michelangelo had to alter the statue's posture to accommodate for di Duccio’s drilling mistake.) I love the story of this famous statue's origin because I think it accurately emphasizes the power of a vision. We may not be here today as sculptors, of course, but each one of us has a desire to create something meaningful and significant in our lives. We have dreams and aspirations about what we want to do or build or become. But we also face the inevitable challenges that stand in our way, complicating our pursuit and testing our commitment to turning that vision into reality. The truth is, there are a lot of Agostino di Duccios in the world today. Despite lofty intentions, their own mistakes or shortcomings have impeded their progress and convinced them to bail on their pursuit altogether. There are also plenty of Antonio Rosselinos out there, who encounter obstacles they didn’t create, but use them just the same as an excuse for walking away. But high achievement in the world today - just like it was all those years ago - is reserved for the Michelangelos. When those other artists looked at that stone, they saw the problems, the flaws, and the long list of reasons why their vision couldn’t become a reality. When Michelangelo looked at that stone, he saw David. The others couldn’t get past what it was. Michelangelo was focused on what he believed it could become. I want to encourage you today to keep cultivating what you might call a Michelangelo mindset. Don’t focus on the problems. Focus on the potential. Clarify that vision for what it is you want to create, and let that drive your commitment to keep showing up and to keep chipping away. That's the choice Michelangelo made, and the choice that's available for each of us today, too. That's the best way to turn your dreams into reality, and the best formula for creating something meaningful and significant for yourself.