What inspires you? Do you remember the first time you felt inspired?

As a child, I grew up with a dad who was much like a cross between Mcgyver , Bob Ross and Bob Vila. He could fix or build anything.  And  he was an artist. An impressive one at that. However, he made his living fixing and building things. Houses, Cars, Furniture. He was a problem solver, first and foremost, and he could pretty much do it all. From the time I could hold a pencil, he taught me everything he knew about art. I recall many times looking up at him, with pencil and sketchbook in hand, while he sat like a creative genius on his thrown. …Which was only made so by its proximity to his enormous drafting table. His creative space was organized to the T. He knew exactly where every tool was at all times. There were brief moments I remember catching glimpses of the fire in his eye. 
Art was his passion, but sadly, was nothing more than a hobby.

And maybe it was when he would see me catching a taste of that same passion, that he would always say,

Looking back now, I realize that my dad taught me to be passionate about things. To want to be good at things. My first source of inspiration. But even back then, I remember thinking, I wasn’t going to give up on my pursuit of art and true creativity so easily. Especially not for a “real job.”

My mother, on the other hand, was a teacher. Tried and true. She loved to learn new things and educate others to do the same. Science, history, art… I remember growing up we had this brown paper bag full of hundreds of 5″ x 5″ flash cards, each with a different species of animal, reptile or insect with a plethora of information about their origin, genetic makeup, population, eating habits and so on. And every time I said I was “bored,” she’d hand them to me. I wanted to do something fun, but learning was fun for her. It literally brought her joy. She was an English teacher though, so she especially loved literature & poetry, and was a stickler for proper grammar.

My mother taught me to be curious. To want to learn. About everything. Her appreciation of history and science have stuck with me to this day. And back then, every time my curiosity would lead me to a question bigger than my adolescent brain could comprehend, she’d always say the same thing,

That’s what encyclopedias or libraries are for, she’d say. Nowadays, I just google it. Anything, and almost everything. If I’m curious about something, I can look it up and learn something new in an instant. She inspired me all those years ago to #neverstoplearning which has been my mantra for most of my life. 

Her love for English literature and poetry inspired me as well. She taught me to dig deep, and to feel. To truly feel. To learn to express the passion deep within through words. So, I wrote my first poem in high school. And I think I still have that poem stored away somewhere, even though it wasn’t very good. But she encouraged me to keep at it, so that’s what I did. I kept writing. I kept looking for ways to express myself creatively and to feel with my whole heart. And not too many years ago, I was voted Best Spoken Word Poet in Savannah Georgia.

Sometimes it’s incomprehensible to think about what you can learn when you take the time to reflect. And these kind of revelatory moments keep my mind striving to find the balance between fully living life, and taking the time to reflect & learn from it, while it is being lived. And finding that balance is the key to success, in life and in business.

What inspires you?

What are you learning today? this week? this month? this year?

How will you take action today?