“The Mighty Pharaoh, Laid Low” was a headline in the newspaper
that really caught my attention. Apparently, the now forever legendary horse
that won the Triple Crown earlier in 2015 has been losing some of his momentum.
For any horse to win the Triple Crown is history, I know this much. Now, it’s
true, I know nearly nothing about horses or racing in general. But I know about
the hype a horse can get. My parents wouldn’t stop talking about this win, and
they don’t even follow racing. American Pharaoh is this horse’s name, and when
I saw the article about American Pharaoh losing some kind of massive race, I
felt heartbroken. And I didn’t know why. Why should I care? It wasn’t as if I
knew the horse personally, and I didn’t have any stakes in the matter. On top
of all this, it isn’t as if the horse will somehow be disappointed. I can’t
imagine American Pharaoh cares who wins and who loses. Still, there was
something disappointing about this news.
It, in a way, reminded me of Pablo
Picasso. Everyone seems to know his legendary masterpiece, Guernica. But it’s also been said that after he created Guernica, his work was never quite as brilliant
or as thought provoking. It was as if he used up all his inspiration on this
one piece of work, and then never quite got it back again. Of course, this is
completely a matter of opinion, but there might be some truth to it. What
happens when you’ve lived out your glory days and then you have to spend the
rest of your life as something that feels lesser than what you used to be? I sincerely
doubt this would ever happen to me, I'll never be famous or relevant enough, but the fact that it has happened to others
is heartbreaking. I cannot imagine what that must feel like, to be revered and praised
and then forgotten completely. I think sometimes we forget that legends were
really just people. We immortalize them and use their names in daily
conversation, but in the end there’s one thing we all have in common. We’re
all human looking for a way to be happy. It’s quite funny really, because it
took an article about a horse to remind me of this. American Pharaoh may be an
animal, but his story made me remember the somehow forgettable fact that we are
all very much human.
(Link to the original article - http://www.ibloomberg.net/the-mighty-pharoah-laid-low/)
Great question: What happens when you’ve lived out your glory days and then you have to spend the rest of your life as something that feels lesser than what you used to be?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your discussion here, and it makes me think of people for whom high school was the very best time of life and how sad it must be for each year and phase after that to be a disappointment.
I can also see how great artists like Picasso (and Harper Lee, for instance) might feel nothing can live up to the masterpiece he or she becomes known for and how stifling that would be to their creative process.
Don't be so sure you'll never be famous, my dear friend! Yeah, I think we all know the feeling of disappointment and heartbreak when we see that our heroes or the ones we see as inspiration are not proven infallible. There's a sort of comfort in the fact that we're all limited beings though. This fact means we can all relate to one another on that front at least. Maybe glory days end, maybe they don't. Maybe they just transition from one kind of glory to another. Sure, sitting on the porch watching a sunset with your grandchild may not be as exciting as winning an Olympic medal, but that could be a glorious moment I think. What's relevant in remembrance is who remembers you and for what, not how many people remember you I feel, so we should not despair when a person is no longer famous but allow them that anonymity to seek themselves in new ways, even if other people don't know they're doing it. Wow, your article got me thinking a lot. I appreciate it, and I appreciate the questions you've posed in your piece.
ReplyDelete