Life seems to be a process of distillation. As Thomas Keller would say, "we're always skimming, skimming, skimming." Reduction, clarification, intensification. I've heard that a great work of art puts you in the mindset of the artist. If so, mustn't the artist have clarified his intention to its essence? What do you think Michelangelo felt slaving over the great chapel ceiling?
The work of the alchemist takes years and years of labor - and all for what? A man can't eat gold.
