Dwelling in inspiration and what inspires you

Malcolm inspires me!

Something I noticed this week while dwelling in inspiration... I was inspired. All week. Fancy that. Talking about what inspires me, actually inspires me.

Did the same happen for you? I asked you on Facebook and Twitter what inspires you and some of you responded. I bet that in that moment you were inspired. By simply calling to mind and sharing your inspirations. Useful to note. And to remember when you're feeling uninspired.

Thank you for playing this week! I had fun and I hope you did to.

To cap off inspiration week, I'm sharing what inspires YOU.


Facebook Responses:

BOO BOO JAMES
Woman with a Parasol in a Garden by Renoir
Sympathy for the Devil - Rolling Stones
Fools Gold - Stone Roses
Glory Box - Portishead
The Godfather, Macbeth, Gene Kelly
Really good acting

JENNIFER BECK FURBER
David Bowie
Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
Nobokov

ADRIENNE BOURNE
My kids
JD Salinger
American Girl by Tom Petty
Dorothy's Red Shoes
Any speech by MLK
Sesame Street

PAM WEINERT
I am inspired by people who succeed against all odds..like making the impossible possible..by people who never give up, never quit, and do not stop! That's what inspires me.

LISSY WEISS
Anything Mazzy Star, Radiohead, Cat Power, Joy Division, The Cure, Feist, Lykke Li, The XX. The song Crystalized by the XX is a great song to get me going.
And anything by Lady Gaga..If I want to say anything more specific, I would have to say Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. Music in general I think motivates me the most.
And I really like paintings by Renoir and Gauguin after visiting Paris.

NATHANIEL ROSS
The understanding that we're not going to be here forever, and that every day on this orbiting hunk of space rock we call Earth there's opportunity to attempt something GREAT. Whether it be to give a great smile to someone on the street, make a great meal for friends or family, or create a great work of art. The opportunity inspires me. Oh, and all that music and literature and stuff are just vitamins for the soul!

JULIE BURROUGHS DUNNE
Cleaning out the closets and scrubbing the house makes me feel energized and re-focused.
I also feel more inspired to appreciate what I see around me when I focus on taking care of what I already have.

PORTER KELLY
My mom, who is very different from me but has an unusually big, open heart
My amazingly talented friends
My dog who loves unconditionally
The vast range of beauty in nature
GREAT movies, music, books and TV of all genres
The girls and women I work with at WriteGirl
My nieces and nephews

MEGAN DOUGLAS
Bjork's Army of Me always inspires me to kick some ass. Eminem's Lose Yourself inspires me to either get to the gym or keep working out, depending on where I hear it. Prince inspires me to embrace my sexual side. My husband inspires me to be a more giving of myself.

JANET TAYLOR
My students

Update- 10:49 PM 10/28/11 Megan just posted this on my FB page and I wanted to include it. Sending healing vibes her mom's way:

MEGAN MILES HAHN
My mom. She's battling brain cancer and I don't think I've ever met a more upbeat positive person. 

Twitter Responses:


@whmike - MICHAEL SHUTT
Don't laugh, but Stacey Francis (in the over 30s) on X-Factor is inspiring me these days.

(Thanks for responding, Michael. You were the only Twitter response to the inspiration question. And I did check out Stacy on the Youtube. She can sing!)

My extremely scientific analysis of this extremely technical study is that music is a common inspiration. Hooray for music! It's hard to answer the question, isn't it? Because there are just so many things that inspire. That's a good thing.

Good night. Have an inspiring weekend!

And feel free to keep this conversation going. Keep sending me what inspires you and I'll keep writing about it. Deal? Deal.

Brene Brown: The courage to be imperfect

Day 2 of LITTOF Inspiration Week is all about the power of vulnerability as masterfully distinguished by research professor and author Brene Brown.

Do you watch TED talks? My mom was the first person to introduce me to TED at least five years ago. There have been so many TED talks that have inspired me over the years. But, this one by Brene Brown is especially inspiring, important and powerful.

Who is Brene Brown?

From her profile from the TED website:

Brene Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent the past ten years studying vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame. She spent the first five years of her decade-long study focusing on shame and empathy, and is now using that work to explore a concept that she calls Wholeheartedness.

She poses the questions:

How do we learn to embrace our vulnerabilities and imperfections so that we can engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness? How do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection that we need to recognize that we are enough – that we are worthy of love, belonging, and joy?

I recently became a subscriber to her wonderful blog, Ordinary Courage, and began following Brene on Twitter because I am a total nerd for vulnerability. I'm a big believer in loving and living full-out with no guarantees. In feeling things (good and bad) deeply. And embracing the rough edges in ourselves and in life. These are the goods Brene traffics in. And she has got the goods.

What the hell am I talking about? Well, just watch her talk from June 2010 at TEDx Houston and you'll see exactly what I mean. In this TED talk, Brene gets to the heart of what it means to feel fully loved and worthy. To be fully alive and vulnerable in our lives. I can't recommend her talk enough. Enjoy!