Daring to take the first step

We live in an amazing world with so many talented and creative people. Every once in a while I see something that is so different and novel that it makes me stop and marvel. I just watched a YouTube video that had this effect on me. I found it mesmerizing. It takes six minutes to view, but read the intro first to understand the story.

This video shows the winner of "Ukraine 's Got Talent", Kseniya Simonova, age 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table. The story shows how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch.

The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears and she won the top prize of about $130,000.

• She begins by creating a scene showing a couple sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear and the happy scene is obliterated.

• It is replaced by a woman's face crying, but then a baby arrives and the woman smiles again. Once again war returns and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman's face appears.

• She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to the Unknown Soldier.

• This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house.

• In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.

• The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine , resulted in one in four of the population being killed with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.

Artist Kseniya Simonova says:

"I find it difficult to create art using paper and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers is easier for me. The art…even brings some audience members to tears, and there's surely no bigger compliment."

Please take time out to see this amazing piece of art.



So what does creating sand art have to do with Entrepreneurship? Everything. Creating a painting or creating a business requires that you start with a vision, with a desire to do something, and with the courage to take action. The vision is not always 100% clear when you start, but by taking action – by taking the first step down a new path - you will open doors and discover new opportunities that you never dreamed were possible. My challenge to every artist and entrepreneur is to dare to take that first step.

- RICK