True Persistence in Old York
Some projects are completed quite quickly, others take time. I confess to being someone who loses interest in a project fairly quickly. There are plenty of projects I've started and not finished. I visited York this week and was inspired by the story of the Cathedral.
The beautiful building on the skyline in this picture is York Minster, a huge Medieval Gothic Cathedral that took 8 (eight) generations, over two hundred years, to build. Talk about perseverance real persistence! A guy could have worked on the cathedral whose great-great-great-great-great grandfather had worked on the same building.
I've got a website which I had pretty much lost interest in, it's been dragging on with little time spent on it because my return wasn't as fast as I had hoped. My visit to York and in
particular the Minster, has motivated me to post another article and prepare several more. It was a lesson in beginning something with a vision of the end in mind.
I love the story of the three fourteenth-century stoneworkers who were asked what they were doing. The first said he was working for two pennies a day (wages were a lot lower back then), the second said he was building a wall and the third said he was building a cathedral.
My belief is that the third guy did the best work; he had bought into a vision and had the desire to work towards creating that vision.
Even the Great East Window took over three years to complete; work on it was started in 1405 and was not finished until 1408!
During the course of building the Cathedral, there was a global pandemic with terrible consequences. During the 1350s the Black Death tore through York killing about half of the population! It made me realise I'm glad to live in the world today, even though there's still room for improvement!
Overall I found this trip inspirational and I feel motivated to persevere.
Is there anything that has inspired you and if so, what?
Recent Comments
25
Very interesting. I think there is a book about this. A great read, just can’t remember the name. Nice analogy too.
Thanks
Stephen
There must be several books, cathedrals and castles were the biggest and most important buildings in medieval Europe.
There's a great work of fiction by Ken Follett; "The Pillars of The Earth", (set in the fictional town of Kingsbridge in the twelfth century) which follows the building of a cathedral through several generations.
Thanks for commenting Stephen. 😃
York Cathedral is a beautiful building, I have been there many times I'm not surprised it gave you the inspiration to get your site going again. I wish you much success with it, Rick :-)
Thanks Lisa, it is a beautiful building. I have been previously but this time my wife and I took a guided tour.
The tour guide knew her stuff, she was enthusiastic and passionate about her subject and I learned so much more about the history of the cathedral and the lives of those who built it.
Wishing you success, as the nights draw in and the weather turns colder I'm envious of you in Tenerife.
Stay well 😃
The guided tour is well worth it. You learn so much more. When you are used to the heat here in the day the nights feel cold.
Have a great week :-)
Hi Rick,
You must have visited the basement of York Minster and seen the huge effort made decades ago to shore up the main tower from collapsing.
When I visited the Cathedral myself in the 1970’s I took the tour to the roof outside. The view was spectacular. I’ll see if I can find those pics to send you some.
Great analogy between the construction of this iconic building and affiliate marketing.
All the best.
Cheers!
Edwin
I did see the basement Edwin and also went to the top of the tower, the views are phenomenal.
We can only imagine how awestruck the peasant population would have been centuries ago by such a magnificent building.
I'd love to see the pics.
Cheers, Rick
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That, in and of itself is very inspirational, Rick!
Jeff
Thanks Jeff, always good to hear from you.
Have a wonderful week and if you're ever in York I can thoroughly recommend a visit to the cathedral.
Rick
Thanks, Rick! If I ever have the good fortune to make it across the pond, I will let you know and take your advice!
Have an excellent new week, my friend!
Jeff😎
If you have the good fortune to make it across the pond let me know and I'd be delighted to meet up and buy you a drink.
Enjoy your week.
Rick😃
Very awesome, Rick! Sounds like a plan!
Jeff😀🍺