Da Vinci’s Gambit

Apprentice in studio

Florence, then Milan

An application to its masters, the Sforzas

A letter promised much: weapons, great machines, mighty metal horse

First jobs were stage shows

Greatest works decades in the making

Rejection. Frustration. Curiosity. Genius.

DaVinci

The best games may have simple rules but mastery may require a lifetime.

The Game of Creation is played on a invisible and infinite board.

It’s a game played by almost everyone in some way.

It began the moment you began to play as a child let loose your imagination.

It continued the moment you had to use that imagination to build a life for yourself.

There are no set rules but there are recurring themes.

Persistence, fed on self-belief,

Resilience, to feed one’s sense of self,

Diligence, to keep practicing, and

Presence, which emerges over time.

Originally published at https://edwardrooster.substack.com on January 8, 2023.