Have you heard of a place called “Top of the Rock” in Missouri? It’s an amazing site with a restaurant and an Indian museum that hosts the largest collection of Indian artifacts.
In my last post, I shared with you the incredible artwork in this one-of-a-kind restaurant. But I haven’t yet shared that the man behind all of this amazing development–Johnny Morris, the founder and owner of Bass Pro Shops. His humble beginnings of selling fishing tackle at the back of his father’s shop is a very inspiring American dream story.
Unlike other billionaires you see on TV who often use their fortunes to purchase huge yachts and jets, Johnny Morris built a legacy for his home state. Besides the Big Cedar Lodge where our family stayed, he also created the amazing natural reserve of Dogwood Canyon and the Top of the Rock development in this area.
The second time we went to the restaurant Osage at Top of the Rock, I discovered that you can actually walk down the stairs through a very cool stone walkway to the Chapel on the Hill that overlooks the whole valley.
The interesting story is that Mr. Morris built this chapel for his daughter’s wedding.
He had very specific requirements for the design. The architect told him that the only way to build this chapel and place it on top of the mountain was to build it on the ground first, then move it to the designated location. So it was built, and after Mr. Morris approved the design, the chapel was taken apart piece by piece and moved to the top of the mountain.
However, when Mr. Morris looked out of the huge window, he saw a telephone pole. Deciding that his daughter should see the whole valley with no telephone pole in sight on her wedding day, he asked the builder to take the chapel apart piece by piece a second time and move it further until the telephone pole was out of view from the window.
That’s perfectionism at its finest, isn’t it?
I have posted another article before about perfectionism, but in this case, Mr. Morris’s perfectionism enabled all of us to enjoy this beautiful view, meditate behind the pew, and feel the emotions of spiritual uplifting—with no telephone pole as a distraction.
Sometimes, in our artistic endeavors, we need to have an extra dose of perfectionism.
You can leave the portrait as it is, but an extra layer or two can make the skin glow more lifelike. You can leave the trees or flowers as you painted them yesterday, but some palette knife work can add more energy and variety.
Just like the chapel story, one man’s vision plus a little quirky perfectionism left a unique legacy on this mountain. Your extra effort to make your art perfect can bring you and all the people who see your work much joy!
Hope you are having a great summer! Here is the link to a short video of the amazing view.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9oCE36OSez/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
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