I Feel Even More Like Salieri

In this previous post, I was reflecting on how I wish I was musically inclined. I wanted to write compositions that would stir the heart and soul and touch our deepest emotions. The title of the post refers to Antonio Salieri, who lived around the time of Mozart. In the play and movie, "Amadeus" Salierie is the antagonist whose jealousy of Mozart's talent drives him to near madness.

I was thinking about Salieri the other day when I realized I am very much like him, as depicted in the film. Not that I'm jealous of anybody or being driven to madness, but rather my circumstances and recent events mimic events in Salieri's life.

In the movie, Salieri is explaining how he always wanted to be a great composer, but his father did not support him. One day, his father dies tragically, and Salieri is able to pursue his dreams. He describes it something like this, and my quote may not be exact: "One minute I was a frustrated boy in a small village, and the next, I was in Vienna, city of musicians. In a few short years, I was court composer to the emporer, Joseph, the Musical King."

In much the same way, my life has followed a similiar path. I was working a dead-end job, full of frustration, stress and unhappiness. Then my father died of cancer, and I found my calling in life. I went to school, and eventually I found myself in a new life and new career. Life imitating art, I guess.