last night i went to a community theater to watch my brother in a production of _the secret garden_. it made me remember how much i love musical theater, and how much i long to do it again.

he inspired me to look into shows again.

and last week i went to see my father's christmas concert -- which inspired me to sing with a choir again.

dustin and i have been discussing inspiration a lot lately...what inspires us to create, or to write, or to sing, or to play, or to love, or to be a better person...

and i'm wondering...what inspires the rest of you?

one thing that really inspires me is when i read a really good story or read someone's blog full of just simple thoughts and feelings that are honest and down to earth.

it not only inspires me to write, but to become a better person.

For me, inspiration can from anywhere at any time. I find it best to actually not look for it, but rather be open for it to pop up in obscure places.

I love finding inspiration in music. I have been cycling my way through albums I have not listened in many years, and it's cool to rediscover music.

I also find inspiration in friends, especially those dealing with adversity and how they come through all the crap.

Well, clearly it can be everything. Personally I make a distinction between inspiration as concieving ideas and inspiration as motivation to do something with those ideas.

Most of the times of the times there are already ideas and some motivation is needed to get at it, to write it down. That kind of inspiration comes in the first place from my apreciation of the gift I've been given by God. A gift that needs practice just in case God makes me clear what to do with it.
Motivation also comes from friends playing music, I love to dream about my friends and me playing songs I wrote.
Motivation comes from hearing bad songs. It annoys me that bad songs make it high into the charts and urge me to prove I can do better. (But most of the times I can't, which infuriates me and motivates me to try harder...)
At times writing helps me to get to terms with things I experience, just to get it on paper gives me relieve.

Inspiration in the sense of concieving ideas I get from different things:

- fragments of songs on the radio (mostly when I'm not actively listening)
- sad stories
- being unlucky in love
- idescribable little gestures
- landscapes
- vast skies
- goodbyes
- the unexplainable (words/lines popping up at random)
- a clean acoustic G-chord
- any chord progression
- melancholy
- the way some words just keep chiming (like: fragrance, fragile, moon)

Of course combinations of the above.

André

I am inspired by truly great songs. Songs that make me want to jump up and shout, or sit down and write a song that will somehow convey the emotion that was just imparted to me. Music moves me to my core.

Songs inspire me. To be creative. To create. To move. To love. To hate. To miss my exit on the freeway.

When I'm intentionally seeking inspiration for my work, I like to peruse and "discover" artists through their websites, books, magazines, and galleries... but like so many others I often find inspiration just tumbling into my life unexpectedly.
I'm almost always inspired to create with my hands in either metal or fibers.*
~m


*or metal using fiber techniques! not fiber using metal techniques though. Things could get hairy if I got out the torch whilst knitting:)

Pictures like this. Being in the middle of that has to be the greatest feeling in the world.

Hey Steve,
Thanks for my new background!
Steve

I have a few live DVD's that I always bring out when I need inspiration...Queen's Live At Wembley Stadium probably tops the list though.

Yeah. U2 live is one huge inspiration. I sat in the WORST seats in the house (I touched the back wall) and it was still goose-bump-spine-tingling good. So good. I left wanting to do something. Sing, write, scream. It was soooo good. This was the All That You Can't Leave Behind tour.

I should also add Springsteen's Live In Barcelona to that list. Man, that's an amazing show, the audience is just insane.

I have one source of inspiration and only one source of inspiration, and that source is coffee. Coffee--the drink that ancient Hawaiians called "The Inspiration of the Gods." (Actually, I can't back that up.) I would like some coffee. Right now. I need to be inspired, damnit.

A few months ago when I was running on the path down at the turtle pond, a man I'd seen there before once or twice of the past few yrs asked if he could join me. He told me about a running group that meets 1x a wk and invited me to join them, but first gave me a few pointers on getting more out of my running. Clearly, I am a rookie, and clearly, he is a champion runner, although he's only run one marathon ( and hated it).

My running group are quickly becoming some of my dearest friends. 2 are singer songwriters together, others include a substance abuse counselor, a nurse, a nutritionist, and a pharmacist. I don't know what the others do, but all have run marathons, except me; I have not run any races. I am the self proclaimed runt, but they will hear nothing of it. I have many caring coaches.

I have secretly wondered: Dear Lord, why do you have me running with the marathoners? These people are so loving and kind and fun and optimisticly spirited, but why on earth do you have me running with the marathoners?

One of the guys is about to run his 74th marathon, in Death Valley. He has run all over the world. He has always been very humble, very kind, as are the rest of them. Today he and I were running together for a stretch, and I found out something that I find incredible inspirational.

This man, who is about to run his 74th marathon, used to be over 400 pounds!! He told me today as we ran on the track that he remembered his first 3 miles ever on that track, and it took him over 1.5 hrs! He still battles keeping his weight in check and studies nutrition, and gave me pointers on nutrition as well.

73 marathons run by a guy who used to be "let me just say it was over 400 lbs".

THAT is inspirational. And, I am blessed to have met this man, who counsels substance abusers for a living, and who still goes to Overeaters Anonymous. I think, every one of us can be a blessing to each other.

Wow - that is inspiring - as a somewhat new runner (just about a year) - I would be intimidated running with a bunch of marathoners!! And to be "over 400 pounds" and now running his 74th marathon?! When I hear of your situation, meeting someone as you did with such a story, I am reminded that people are brought into your life for reasons mostly unknown to you. You were meant to hear this mans story and to learn from it and....be inspired by him. You should run your first race - I did, a 10k (not quite a marathon!!). You'll feel very "accomplished" and inspired to do more. Keep running and Happy New Year!!

I find inspiration from many things, but it always strikes at the most unexpected moments. Most recently, I found inspiration from My Date with Drew. That was a bit of a surprise - I'm not really a fan of Drew Barrymore and the movie looked amusing on first glance, not inspirational. But gosh, after watching it, I was full of energy and ideas, it just had so much heart! The result of my inspiration: a clean room and clean clothes!

Wow, for a minute there I thought that film was a documentary about The Drew doing his schtick with the ladies at the OTR shows.

pico:



It wasn't? Oops! Maybe it wasn't so inspirational after all...