Delicious Ambiguity

This is Plage de Buse in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, seductively located in the French Riviera.  The purpose of my visit was to see the place where the architectural genius Le Corbusier took his last swim, and after a four hour drive, for Jake to chuck rocks into the sea.

Against orders from his doctors, Le Corbusier went for a swim in this Mediterranean Bay on August 27, 1965, and was later discovered floating in the waves by other bathers.

His death shocked the world, prompting sorrowful comments from Japan, Russia, and even his sworn enemy, Salvidor Dali.

While his architecture was an incredible contribution to my world, his true impact on me is not WHAT he did, but HOW he did it.

In his life he built many revolutionary modern structures, and yet only one for himself, a tiny cabin with no kitchen located just off this beach…he lived inspired by his art.

Lately I have struggled with inspiration.   When I woke up that morning I prayed that God would offer me something when I went to this site, some tiny bit of passion or thread of insight.  I want to create so badly…that I can’t create.

Maybe it was God, or the ghost of Corbusier, or the air of the French Riviera, but I am discovering this week that the path to art is actually THE art itself, and the more I stop along the way, stare at the waves, and perhaps chuck a few rocks into the sea, the more creative and passion-filled I become.

Its difficult to stop and skip rocks, even if you are staring at the Mediterranean,  but in trying to control my time I am actually missing out on it.  True creative inspiration needs to be cultivated, not forced, and so I think the words of Gilda Radner may be perfect…

I wanted a perfect ending… Now, I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment, and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity.

Lately I feel like I’m standing in calm water just waiting for a wave to crash…and I have let it get the better of me.  After this trip to Plage de Buse and my run-in with Le Corbusier, I now have a new focus for this blog…or not so much a focus, but an ambiguous approach.  You will see some things change a bit…now that my passion is renewed.  Thank you God, thank you Le Corbu, and thank you ambiguity!

Love Rach

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 3:00 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.