Why do we consider ‘normal’ to be ‘good’? Here is a man who always try not to think ordinary. One of the well-known authors, Mark Twain. He is a writer of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Prince and the Pauper.
Twain wrote about Venice in his travel book, titled The Innocent Abroad (1869).
‘I am afraid I study the gondolier’s marvelous skill more than I do the sculptured palaces we glide among. He cuts a corner so closely, now and then, or misses another gondola by such an imperceptible hair-breadth that I feel myself “scrooching,” as the children say, just as one does when a buggy wheel grazes his elbow.’.
This childlike innocent but extraordinary vision of Venice shows Mark Twain’s style so well. When we think about the gondolas, one that comes to mind is floating on the Grand Canal with singing gondoliers. However, he was charmed by the tiny daily things of gondoliers and it reminisces of innocent times as a kid.
He gained fame because of his literary skill, but more interesting fact about him is that he is a fantastically failed investor but a nevertheless humorist. Once he said “I have been an author for 20 years and an ass for 55 years” which explains that he failed as an investor and inventor. By the way, you can see that he lived a life without hesitating to be seen as foolish and make fun of himself.
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority,” he delivered, “It’s time to pause and reflect.”
The common thinking of being outside of the majority is loneliness and a word ‘minor’ is even accepted negatively sometimes. While this may be true in our society nowadays, Twain claimed that there is no reason to be afraid of being foolish. Living life like him can not be on the mainstream of our world but at the same time, it means you are a person who enjoying the moment and being creative.
Preparing for the Venice Carnival 2020 “Game, Love and Folly”, It would make our Carnival more fun if we recall Mark Twain and to take his sentence on our heart.
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
