Lynne Grainger's Blog

Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the novel, Lost Horizon. It’s described as a mystical, harmonious valley and has come to mean an earthly paradise. I haven’t read James Hilton’s Lost Horizon, but the phrase, those two words are understood as a permanently happy land. As I left my client meeting the other day and felt this sense of excitement and joy to be working with such a genuinely kind person with an innovative product I wondered if this Shangri-La didn’t reside within me. And how could I hold onto such a pleasant feeling and carry it forth each day. I find such a place in this image I shot at Sarasota’s Sailing Squadron, yet I think that happy place could exist anywhere.

Life has momentum. Energy. Unexpected surprises. And you can ride the wave of  life and truly benefit from its intrinsic desire to create, but that same juice can just as easily dry up. It reminds me of Fantasia and the sorcerer’s apprentice (Mickey Mouse) who is seduced by the wand and magic hat and loses control of the directed brooms carrying water. Fantasia has an interesting, precarious beginning – an over budget short created to revitalize Mickey that Walt Disney turned into a feature-length film with other segments set to classical music. Initially a bust as it was released in the 40’s during the war. Of course later it is wildly successful. What is the point here? I have lost my momentum with the Scoville Scale and will eventually pick it back up or that will carry me to a new idea. That’s the nuance of creative work — sometimes it ignites a fire (and a high Scoville rating) and other times it peters out. For now, my idea sits. Nothing a little hot sauce won’t cure.