The Restless Temple
There are some moments which you remember distinctly. In 2002 I received a telephone call. I was standing in my office looking out over St Michaels Mount in Cornwall listening to an idea for a project being led by Penny Saunders of Forkbeard Fantasy.
A couple of weeks ago I went to visit the finished vision with my friend Geraldine. It is called The Restless Temple, a temple with a structure that enables it to sway and move in the wind. The temple is situated in the sculpture park, Gulval, overlooking St Michael’s Mount. This wasn't in the plan when I took that phone call, but weirdly it is the village I was living in at the time.
Visiting the temple, I felt really emotional. It’s a special place with deep connections for me.
Penny had done it. It had taken over 14 years.
I know how hard Penny must have worked to develop it from the initial concept to exploring suitable materials to designing it, engineering it, testing and finally getting it in situ. She had a dream and creative passion which engaged everyone from the moment that they heard about it. It was infectious. Bonkers but brilliant.
I knew she would do it because Penny always finds a way of making the impossible, possible.
I'm telling you this because not only is it an amazing feat of engineering but maybe this resonates with you in some way?
Perhaps you have a dream that feels impossible to realise? It might feel a bit bonkers sometimes.
I think sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of our dreams as we get knocked off course and we worry about pragmatism. Sometimes, we can get bogged down in the planning of things and then it all becomes too difficult.
Sometimes we just need to take the first step or the next step. See where it takes us.
There’s that fantastic line at the end of Brownsville Girl by Bob Dylan.
"People don't do what they believe in, they do what's most convenient, then they repent."
I hope you’re doing what you believe in. If not, maybe it’s time to reconnect with it.
If you want to find out more about the temple, you can do that here..
There's also a live webcam. It’s lit until 11pm GMT.