Are you nuts? What are you thinking? No one will understand.

These comments have been heard many times by creative people striving to achieve their unique visions. But their perseverance in pursuing their goals has forced the naysayers to eat their words.

Maybe some of you have heard of the House on the Rock - one of the Seven Wonders of Roadside America. I visited it recently and was absolutely blown away when I learned about the man named Alex Jordan who created it. In the 1940s, he discovered a 60-foot chimney of sandstone called Deer Shelter Rock in Spring Green, WI, and decided to build a house on it. That's right, not around it, not next to it, but on it. He built it as a weekend retreat and never intended it to be a tourist attraction, but people kept flocking to see this architectural wonder.*

Jordan was a collector all his life and enjoyed visiting museums, however, he did not want The House on the Rock to be a museum. It's more of a trip through his wild and fantastic imagination. The 14-room house is the original structure of what are now galleries in a complex of many buildings and garden displays.* The galleries contain unique collections of dolls, dollhouses, aviation and nautical items, organs, replicas of the Crown Jewels, guns, and Oriental art, not to mention the world's largest carousel (with over 20,000 lights) and the Infinity Room, which juts out past the house and appears as if it really does continue on forever. Here, take a peek (login: swfan_2006; password: wisconsin).

Like many misunderstood creative and inspirational individuals, Jordan heard a lot of: "You're crazy" and met with resistance while creating his dream. This reminds me of The Flannelled One, who said in an interview: "Science fiction was not something that did well at the box office. It dealt with robots and Wookies and things that -- generally most people -- they couldn't read it and say, 'I understand what this is all about' ".**

Creators like GL and Alex Jordan had the courage to keep striving to achieve their visions, despite being scorned and laughed at. I truly admire and thank the Force for these kinds of people, because without them, our world would be quite a dismal place.

* The House on the Rock website
** Academy of Achievement