Inspiration

Inspiration. What a strong word. It’s amazing how much power the word ‘Inspiration’ can carry. It can make us become better people, fulfill a destiny, or change the course of our lives. So do we wait for inspiration to come to us, do we allow ourselves to be inspired, or do we make inspiration happen?

Inspiration evokes an emotion deep within us. Sometimes we spend most of our lives waiting for that inspiration to fill us with the motivation to do something meaningful, but will we recognize it when it hits us and when it doesn’t come, how long do we wait?

I have always maintained that I am inspired by everything and everyone around me. Perhaps too much. I can be easily influenced to check out a new movie, a new book, a new food, or a new product. But is it really inspiration or just another way of being open minded about all the things that make up life?

Inspiration and motivation can go hand in hand. If I am inspired by someone who ran a marathon, will I be motivated to run a marathon too? Or if I am inspired by a person who has found the strength to fight a devastating illness, will I be motivated to do something for people battling the disease? People do everyday. I hear it all the time. I think it’s a beautiful thing to be inspired by something or someone and to be motivated to do something about it so that for a brief moment that inspiration can mean something.

I must have been in 7th grade the moment I knew that books and writers inspired me. Where else could I drift away from my reality to a far away land? I remember the exact moment I was inspired to want to write. I read “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. I was mesmerized by the power of his words and the fact that millions of people were reading his words even though he had written it in 1920. How wonderful it felt to know that someone can be immortalized by writing down their thoughts. It was so inspiring. The poem has always been a reflection of my life and the way I make choices.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

After that there was no stopping me. I absorbed the works of hundreds of writers and poets and I had a passion for the classics. My favorite novel will always be “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas, it’s a great story of inspiration and perseverance despite persecution. My son is named after the author. I have since been inspired to write hundreds of poems and start many stories myself, I had the drive and the motivation to pursue my craft and not cast it aside. I wanted the decade of my twenties to be about the rewards of fulfilling my writing dream.

Instead, life happened, and my choices changed the course of my dreams.

It’s never too late though, right? That’s what everyone says. Will I find the inspiration again to motivate myself to pen the words that live inside my head?

Stay tuned.

~A