What would life be like if you were never inspired? That's what Stella Resnick asks in
The Pleasure Zone. Published in 1998, it's a little old as self-help books go. However Stella's observations still ring true today; our culture spends a lot of time and energy moving away from the things that give us pleasure.
She talks about a lot of things, but at one point, she asks as a sidenote what life would be like if we were never inspired. I had to put down the book when I came to that part, because I realized right there that a great amount of my life happiness comes from having the freedom to be inspired and to act on those inspirations. I see my kiddos, and they have the same thing - lots of time to be inspired and to work on the projects and goals that come from those inspirations.
I have been slowly moving towards a more inspired life, and I have to say, that the more chance I have to work on the projects that get my juices flowing, the better I am at dealing with the everyday stresses that surround me. On the days that I have little or no chance to write my ideas or to spend time on the things that keep me enthralled, I am grumpier, less tolerant and less satisfied with my accomplishments - even if I got a lot done during the day. Getting a lot done seems to have little correlation to my perspective on life. Getting done things that I am inspired to do fill my satisfaction bucket much better than things that I force myself to do, or that I am required to do.
Our kids are living a life FULL of inspiration. Every day they flow from one inspiration to the next. There's hardly a time when they don't have some kind of idea to keep them at work. Even Cam, who's almost 8, hasn't slowed down. Allison, is only increasing her inspiration resevoir as she gets older. And Megan was born inspired - don't get in HER way.
Have I, as a parent and "teacher" (according to the state of CA) done anything in particular to "make" them inspired? Absolutely not. I might spark an idea or be a role model, but their inspirations are theirs. They own every single one of their projects. They own their successes and their failures. I just give them lots of space, lots of experiences, lots of love, help when they need it, and then let them do their thing.
And often, they are the ones inspiring me. They certainly have inspired me to follow my dreams, as silly or as impossible as they may seem. Because that's what they do, and often what seems impossible, is only impossible because I doubt. They don't doubt, and they succeed. They fail too. But that doesn't stop them. And they succeed far more often than they fail.
Inspiration - it's what drives learning. It's what drives us to want to better ourselves and better the world. Inspiration is what creates new ideas. Imagine what this world would be like if we could all have time to be inspired, and then act on those inspirations, everyday.
Do you have the time to regularly be inspired, and to do something about it?
