reach what you cannot

07 August 2015
I don't particularly like signs and quotes. Every person is different and, how can a person be described within just a few words? How can a man live by a quote?
This sign is hanging at my daughter's room, though, indicating a powerful quote by Nikos Kazantzakis:
“Reach what you cannot” (“ Φτάσε όπου δεν μπορείς ”). I even spent many hours of my precious night sleep to design, write and paint this particular one to hang at their room.  
 

It is hanged over their loft bed, as high as it was possible. At age 4 my oldest daughter can't reach it.  
This is the point I wanted to make: “Maybe now  you can't reach your goals, but everyday you get stronger and wiser and if you set a goal and work hard towards it, everyday you will be closer to your dreams.”

"Reach out for your Dreams, my darling"
I want to raise my daughters not to be afraid to follow their dreams.
I want them to dare to dream and then work hard to get there.

As Friedrich Nietzsche said, I am saying to my kids: “Become who you are!”

 
[ “Reach what you cannot” : 
 
“Give me a command, beloved grandfather”
Smiling, you placed your hand upon my head. It was not a hand, it was multicoloured fire. The flame suffused my mind to the very roots. 
“Reach what you can, my child”
Your voice was grave and dark, as though issuing from the deep larynx of the earth.
It reached the roots of my mind, but my heart remained unshaken.
“Grandfather” , I called more loudly now, “give me a more difficult, more Cretan command.”
Hardly had I finished speaking when, all at once, a hissing flame cleaved the air. The indomitable ancestor with the thyme roots tangled in his locks vanished from my sight; a cry was left on Sinai's peak, an upright cry full of command, and the air trembled:
“Reach what you cannot”

Nikos Kazantzakis, Report to Greco, 
translated from the Greek by P. A. Bien ]
 

I'd love to know what you think!

1 comment

Welcome

How can a person be described within just a few words?
We are much more complicated -and amazing- than that!
My name is Victoria, 
I am a mama, a science teacher, a Montessori enthusiast, an occasional crafter, a book lover. 
And I strive to find the perfect words. 
I am so glad you are here!

Please read more about me at My Story page

storytelling

There is something magnificent in telling stories. Short stories have even bigger impact- it takes all the gifts of a storyteller to invent a unique short story to reach the soul and bring an uplifting effect.

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