Rest On Your Laurels

The laurel is a symbol of victory and peace which were worn as a crown in ancient Greek and Roman traditions by victorious Olympians and generals as symbols of victory, status and success. The idiom 'resting on your laurels' dates back to those ancient times and it was an honor to be tranquil, to repose on them, to stop. Olympians were celebrated as heroes in their home villages and granted free food for the rest of their lives. Roman generals would also savor their successes and bask in the memories of their former glories for as long, as well.

Originally there was no negative connotation, but about a millenia after the decline of both empires the definition changed. To 'rest on your laurels' came to mean 'lazy' and 'complacent'. The idiom "don't rest on your laurels" is said as a cautionary phrase, a warning to those who have achieved success. Why? At some point, the notion that success needed to be something continuously strived for became important to people. One could not just achieve one success, but many.

Industrialization provided the notion that people's worth, like cogs in a machine, are only valuable when working. And thus, the quantity of one's achievements have become what's most valued, not the quality of one or a few successes. In this thought construct is the root of modern thinking, despair, desperation, stress and general dissatisfaction with life. Our society and psyches have been built on and around the belief that one must produce, must achieve, must strive, until end of days. The French understand this. Hence, their protest over moving the goal post for retirement age. In some countries, like the U.S., the goal post exists only in fantastical terms - when you have enough money, meaning rich.

I wonder how ancient Greeks would feel about our modern version of the Olympics, the professional athletes who compete and how no one is allowed to rest on their laurels.

I believe they would deplore this twisted version.

Only athletes who were amateurs were allowed to compete in the ancient Games because it was believed that professionalism would be an unfair advantage over those who could not afford the luxury of full-time training. For ease of movement and to erase social markers, the competitions were done in the nude. The word 'gymnast' derives from 'gymnos' which means 'nude'. Up until the 1970s, the Olympics were reserved for amateurs, but this changed. Why? The IOC accepted corporate sponsorships and endorsements, and essentially became another bought and paid for "non-profit" organization.

With industrialization and the rise of capitalism, there arose two prominent beliefs. One is that we must be productive, as a society and as individuals. The second is that our value lies in what we do, what we continuously achieve, as exemplified by the corporate sponsorship and endorsements that are now the stitching on the fabric of the modern Olympics. There can be no resting on one's laurels.

So ingrained are these biases, they have become unconscious, and when Simone Biles, an already decorated champion with multiple wins and medals, took time off to tend to her mental health, she was heavily criticised and ridiculed by some for doing so. If she had not returned to the Olympics in Paris to compete, the belief would be that she had a mental breakdown, not took a break to tend to her mental well-being. The negative cast of 'time off' for anything taints our thinking, our reactions, and our responses. It dismisses and diminishes our achievements and successes. That perception causes us to believe that we are never enough and to feel persistently dissatisfied throughout our lives. It continues to demonize time taken for leisure.

If only we were allowed to bask in the memories of our former glories and rest on the laurels of our successes as the Greeks and Romans once did. Or simply take some time off to tend to our health. Perhaps we would be happer and feel more fulfilled knowing that our achievements need not be tallied, but appreciated for what they were and still are, our victories on the battlefield of life.

If the pandemic proved anything to anyone, being alive was and still is our greatest victory in life. Being healthy, both physically and mentally, is a success. Our relationship with self with others, the grand prizes.

And yet, corporations, capitalism, and our industrialized needs press and weigh on us. Companies are doing what they can to put people back under their thumb in their demands and stipulations for workers to return to offices where they can be fully monitored, reconditioned and controlled. Professionalism is once again celebrated as a spectator sport after the absolute lack of any being able to attend in person in Tokyo and Beijing.

And still yet, the lessons of the pandemic linger in people's psyche. There was a world-wide break in the conditioning. The atmosphere has changed. There is an undercurrent. A disturbance.

We see it in the droves of people traveling abroad. Our hunger for experiences in the now. We see it in people's reponses to the return to the office policies. In all the ways we are determined not to. We see it online with people leaving social media platforms due to constant and persistent promotion and advertising. People are becoming more and more critical of it, including self-promotion.

Currently, the only good social platform online right now is Threads and it seems too good to be true because it lacks advertising and paid promotion. But how long will that last? How is Meta benefitting? What are they doing with our "content" on all four of their platforms?

Yes, symptoms of the pandemic still linger, not just in health issues in individuals, but as the things that disturb us and demand for us to conform and reintegrate. They are the things that are being taken from us, like our fundamental right to privacy, our control over how we relate to others on socials, our ability to own our time and space, to value each moment of our precious time on this earth.

Our attitude and unconscious bias about 'rest' and 'laurels' could do with an overhaul. They need redefining. Rest is necessary and needed. The celebration of one's laurels deserve to be long and loud. The prizes of health in body, mind and relationships, understood and appreciated more widely and broadly in our modern and supposedly more advanced societies.

I leave you with one last thought, a quote of Pericles, "What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments (your achievements, successes, medals), but what is woven into the lives of others." Engrave this on your heart and you will truly have something worth striving for and celebrating throughout the rest of your life.

Walls Within

At the beginning of the year, I exhibited my series Walls Within in exhibition in Barcelona at a Espai Cenit, a cultural center and art gallery. I was one of five lucky applicants chosen from many to have my work on display in their charming space. The series is very special to me for several reasons. It was born in Cáceres at the Guadalupe Monastery when I was took part of the first year of the Observatorio de lo Invisible's arts program.

After making the four lanterns out of stoneware, the unfired pieces were carefully transported back to three hundred and twenty-one kilometers back to Madrid. Once they arrived,they went into the kiln for the first of two firings, the bisque. After that, I carefully and precisely applied the glaze, leaving some sections unglazed. Once, they came out of the glaze firing, I gilded them.

Over the course of the past few months, since exhibiting at Espai Cenit, some have asked me when they will be shown in Madrid. I am pleased to announce that they will finally be on display at this open studio. I've decided to hold morning and early afternoon hours so they and the other works on display can take full advantage of being seen in the sunlight.

For now, I direct you to the song 'Lay Your Armor Down' by singer-songwriter and producer, Feroza Cayetano, to meditate on here.

Open Studio

Autumnal Equinox

21 & 22 September 2024

11:00 - 15:00

The address of this private location in Madrid Spain and will be delivered to you by email. Of course, you will need a reservation to come visit me.

For two days in 2024, I will open my studio to share a new body of work on the weekend of the Autumnal Equinox. I'll be showing a series of sculptures, static and kinetic.

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A friend has been telling me for ages to write a book, a memoir, of all my wild past-life experiences. Maybe I'll write a book about my life when I'm older, maybe around 80 (if I am blessed to live that long). I've decided to keep this diary instead.

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