"In Zen, an ensō is a circle that is hand-drawn in one or two uninhibited brushstrokes to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create. "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ens%C5%8D
A night at the opera can set you free to create as well.
Who knew?
I am not an opera buff.
I literally know nothing about opera except that it exists and people go to the theater to listen to it and watch it. I have heard about Carmen and Madame Butterfly and a few others, but I don’t recall ever attending a full opera.
(Phantom of the Opera does not count because it is a musical :)
One of the big stumbling blocks for me is the language. Usually, I can not understand what the soloist at the opera is singing or saying. I also am not fond of the high soprano voice (the fat lady), but I am trying to learn to appreciate it.
So, the other day, in my snail mail post office box I receive a flyer informing me of an opera about Steve Jobs that would be playing at The Kauffman in March.
I checked my calendar and that weekend was open so I said to myself, "What the heck!"
I found a friend who is an expert on Steve Jobs and not an opera buff either, who was game.
So the tickets were purchased.
Before attending the performance, I read the entire play. I listened to many of the songs and I watched an old Steve Jobs documentary.
I felt prepared for a fabulous entertainment experience; however, I had no idea how much I would benefit from sitting in that seat for 90 minutes.
I thought the title (R)evolution was referring to the fact that the Apple Corporation and Steve Jobs changed our world through their devices.
Revolution: A rising in society.
But what about that parenthesis?
Now after thinking more about it and reading more material the revolution was referring to the second definition as in rotation, circle, spin. It was about Steve Jobs the man and his (R)evolution and his growth, enlightenment, and his creative genius.
As I mentioned earlier:
"In Zen, an ensō is a circle that is hand-drawn in one or two uninhibited brushstrokes to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create. "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ens%C5%8D
Enlightenment
Minimalism
Nature
Freedom
Simplicity
are some of the main principles of ensō.
Even though Steve Jobs was a complicated human being - more on that later - he understood how to free his mind in order to create.
He learned this through his Zen master, Kōbun, who says in the opera:
We start at nothing,
Return to nothing.
The circle ends where it was begun
Think about it!
March 16, 2022
Note: HONEST TO GOD, I did not watch this video until after I wrote the first two blog posts about Steve Jobs; however, I was so glad to bump into it because the panel confirmed everything I was thinking.
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