The Audacity– At Little Gems show , West End Gallery
Men much more Loyal, tho’ not half so loud;
But these poor Devils were cast behind the Croud.
For bold Knaves thrive without one grain of Sense,
But good Men starve for want of Impudence.
–John Dryden, Epilogue to Constantine the Great by Nathaniel Lee
Another small painting that is part of this year’s edition of the Little Gems show which opens tomorrow, Friday, February 11, at the West End Gallery. This small piece, filled with warm tones, is titled The Audacity.
Audacity or boldness is something tat many of us run away from. It can be a scary thing, after all. Being bold means that you have put yourself out there for all to see which means there is the possibility for failure or ridicule.
And nobody wants that.
It’s sometimes easier to simply keep our heads down and blend in, never raising a fuss nor airing our desires. We just go with the flow.
As a result, those who are bolder among us, those who dare to yell the loudest and make the biggest spectacle– regardless of merit, honesty, righteousness, or popularity– often get the greater part of the attention and its accompanying rewards.
As they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
This is in plentiful evidence since we live in a time where fools flourish in their boldness. Even encouraged to do so.
As Dryden wrote:
For bold Knaves thrive without one grain of Sense,
But good Men starve for want of Impudence.
Sometimes we can’t politely and timidly stand by for fear of failing or being ridiculed. You have to let the world know what you want and expect from it. This holds true for many aspects of our lives, both private and public..
You have to step up and let your voice be heard.
And hope that you are not of those knaves without one grain of sense.
But consider this: If you have any concern at all about being that fool, you probably are not. So be audacious. It might do you a world of good.
Don’t take my word for it. As Robert Frost wrote:
Freedom lies in being bold.
Redtree Times 
In Australia today 5 parliamentarians from the LNP (ruling Tory party) crossed the floor of the House to support an amendment put by the Federal opposition ALP & Greens. Thereby opposing specific elements of legislation brought forward by their own party. Acting in line with their conscience, they acted bravely and audaciously. It showed great integrity to take such action – going against the party’s line. But they cared enough about trans kids, LGBTIQ & protecting their rights more than taking the party line. The LNP was introducing a “Religious Discrimination Bill” – which was going to allow Churches to legally discriminate against others in their hospitals & schools, & it was justified as long as they held “sincere belief” It was a Bill which would have allowed religious schools to expel e.g. trans kids.It also affected staff in religious schools not of the school’s faith, or in contravention of one of their belief tenets – enabling the institution to sack: single mothers; gay couples; people living together but not married; divorced people etc. The 5 brave pollies supported an amendment which specifically was to protect explusion of children from schools on spurious grounds. The Bill moved to the Senate in an amended form but very quickly the Christian Right Coalition asked for it to be withdrawn. This group is body of fundamentalist Christians who had worked closely with our Pentecostal PM to raise this legislation following their defeat in the gay marriage referendum – which has stuck in their craw for 2 years+. They said the Bill in its current form would no longer achieve their goals – to discriminate against others & override their legal rights. So, this hateful, hurtful, divisive Bill has been permanently shelved! AUDACITY worked today!
Yay! Audacity is needed now more than ever…Sent from my Galaxy