Ah, we’ve finally come to the dreaded letter X in the A to Z Challenge. I’d been thinking of using X for ten or even using X-traordinary because it would fit into the motivation and inspiration theme. But since today is Friday and I’ve gone back to doing Creativity Prompts on Friday, I wanted X is for Xanadu as our creativity prompt.
Interestingly enough, when I think of Xanadu, I thought first of the summer palace built by the Mongol ruler, Kublai Khan. Then I thought of Xanadu the song by Olivia Newton-John (forgetting there was also a movie) and then landed on Kubla Khan, the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
According to Merriam-Webster, Xanadu means an idyllic, exotic, or luxurious place.
So it’s a Creator’s Choice in our X is for Xanadu creativity prompt. Use the dictionary definition, use the UNESCO site of Xanadu, use the Coleridge poem, use the song lyrics from Olivia Newton-John or the Xanadu movie if you ever saw it. It’s your choice to use whichever version of Xandu you want as your creativity prompt.
Fun fact, the movie Xanadu and Can’t Stop the Music were the inspiration for the Golden Raspberry Awards because John J B Wilson saw the two together as a 99-cent double-feature. Can’t Stop the Music won for Worst Film, but Xanadu won for Worst Director.
Excerpt from Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
Excerpt from Xanadu by Olivia Newton-John
A place where nobody dared to go
The love that we came to know
They call it Xanadu (it takes your breath and it’ll leave you blind)
And now, open your eyes and see
What we have made is real
We are in Xanadu (you dream of it, we offer you)
