An Evening With Picasso

Last Friday I coerced my family into seeing the Picasso exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibit was ending soon and I had wanted to go for quite some time. Friday was special, though, because there was also an "informal conversation" at the museum with a photographer who had photographed Picasso.

Honestly, the lecture was the best part of the trip. The photographer's name is Frederick Baldwin, and he had the most amazing story I've EVER heard. There's an online book of his experience with Picasso (available here), and although its pretty good, its nothing compared to the way he tells the story. Through his words you can almost see yourself right there with him in Cannes on a hot summer day. He takes you through the emotional roller coaster he experienced: excitement, fear, dread, anxiety, hopefulness, excitement. His talk was beyond inspiring. He's working on a book about life lessons he has learned, and I'm pretty sure it will be amazing. In summary he said there are 4 things you have to do in life:

1. Dream.
   
2. Use your imagination to come up with ways to make your dreams come true.
3. Get over your fears.
4. Act on your dreams.

It sounds simple, I know, but when you think about it, its really quite hard to implement. Most of us have step 1 down, but somehow we usually get stuck around steps 3 or 4. I want to be able to look back on every stage of my life and feel like I truly lived and learned. I need to find a way to get a print of his letter to Picasso. It would be a great reminder of that spark that life is really all about.