Optimism

Mindy and I are in NYC and woke up early one morning with one goal in mind: take a great photo of the Charging Bull. I’ve been fascinated with this sculpture since I learned that the creator plopped it down illegally in the middle of the night with help from 50 (!) of his friends. I wonder what his co-conspirators thought?

• Arturo: I need help moving something.
• Friend: Like a couch?
• Arturo: No, a 7,000 pound bull sculpture.
• Friend: ???
• Arturo: Also, I am going to install it illegally, so we have to do it in the middle of the night to avoid arrest.
• Friend: ?!?!?!?

On December 20th 1989, Arturo and his helpers plopped the bull down in the middle of the night between police patrols. The city removed it, but by then, the public had caught wind of the story and clamored for the city to bring it back.

Our picture adventure was successful. Because it was 7am, we had the bull to ourselves. I like this photo best and it will soon be hanging on my office wall:

Three Thoughts On The Charging Bull

1) This Story Is A Good One

I love that the artist:

1. Created this thing in a studio somewhere, spending $360,000 of his own money and who-knows-how-many-hours on it. At 7,000 pounds, this isn’t a high-school art project.
2. Figured out when the police patrolled Wall Street to find the optimal time to drop it off illegally. (He had a 10 minute window.)
3. Rented a flatbed truck, crane, and enlisted 40 friends to drop off the “gift to NYC” in the middle of the night.

I would love to see the look on the police officer’s face when she or he came around the corner and spotted a 11 foot tall sculpture that wasn’t there 10 minutes prior.

2) It’s Well Done

In this podcast, the host mentions that the artist didn’t get a lot of respect for most of his life. I’m no art critic, but the Charging Bull looks better than some of the crap people pay millions to own.

3) Optimism

Arturo created the Charging Bull after the 1987 Black Monday stock market crash. It was a dark time and he created it to represent optimism and prosperity. That’s pretty great.

I have zero tattoos, but if I had to get one, the Charging Bull would be on my short-list.

Thanks

I hope that you have cause to be optimism in your life. My life has turned out better than I could have ever dreamed and I wish nothing less than the same for you.

More 1500 Days!!!

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