IMAGINATION
On Breaking the Wall and Turning 30
France inspired me. Again. Last week, I had the great pleasure of celebrating turning 30 (so, mathematically speaking, my 31th birthday) in Dijon with all my new Klangforum collegues, many singers from the Pinocchio-production and other friends. A wonderful evening with wine (for the others), food, music, conversations and joie-de-vivre. An evening symbolizing where I stand now, what life has brought and taught me in its first 30 years, 10958 days or however you'd like to count it.
And, since this is a historical change of numbers, I've been thinking. It actually feels a bit like a very refreshing New Year's Eve, or rather the day after, and I discover this as a chance, a possibility to re-think, find new goals and paths and to keep on imagining things and staying creative. And as a sudden surprise, this quotation came to me:
"Rien ne vaut la peine d'être vécu, qui n'est d'abord une œuvre d'imagination ou alors la mer ne serait plus que de l'eau salée"
- Romain Gary
The most beautiful picture: if we wouldn't have our imagination, the sea would be nothing more than salty water. Gary - a dreamer, a literaric hero and a man not willing to compromise with anything. Especially not with dreaming and fantasizing. And so, the sea remains something magical.
If life would be in sonata form, this birthday was probably the end of the Exposition and the beginning of the Durchfürung. Or to put it in John Coltrane's words: the end of the Acknowledgment and the beginning of the Resolution. I'm really looking forward to it.
All the best from Berlin,
Your Mikael