Surrealism isn't my favorite but I've always loved this painting, "The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali. It's become iconic and almost everyone knows the art, if not the artist. I didn't realize until I took an art appreciation class that the odd figure on the ground in the middle of the painting is, in fact, a self portrait of Dali himself. He put himself in the painting. Literally.
As a writer I can understand why he would do this. When you're creating something, it's almost impossible not to put yourself in what you're making. Pieces of your own personality, the pain from past experiences, the hopes and dreams you have, all of it goes in there somehow, symbolically or in the form of a character. Try keeping yourself out of it and you have a very bland story.
I also love this painting because to me, the distorted watches mean that time is nothing. I've tried to train myself to think this way and it's worked. And it's true. I've met many people who complain about getting older, whose backs are bent under the burden of regret and who limit themselves because of some preconceived notion that a person in their circumstance or age shouldn't be able to do what they want to do. These beliefs mean nothing to me. We are given a finite amount of time on this earth and I intend to use and enjoy and every bit of it.
