Day 23: Inspire me, please.
Posted by Kelli Joan Bennett
Day 23. I find an email from a friend in my inbox—she has responded to an email from me from last night. I reached out because we were supposed to get together a couple of weeks ago but schedules did not permit and we both slipped off the grid. I was slammed with the editing and she was in the middle of a shoot. Immediately post pressing send on my written, “what’s your schedule? Can’t wait to see you,” blah, blah, blah bit I decide to treat myself to a phone call with her instead. It’s a bold move. I have so much to do and time is not patient. But, it’s a calculated move, too. I feel lethargic, tired, uninspired. Enter the need for a treat.
This is not just any friend. This is a super fun, wonderfully talented writer/director/producer friend who always entertains, motivates and, most importantly, inspires me whenever we connect. She’s got a way about her, a certain joie de vivre. She just makes you feel good, special. She is incredibly supportive of my new venture and recently threw out such an amazingly imaginative idea to add to the site and the experiment I am giddy just thinking about it and I hope to implement it ASAP. Besides being thankful for her generous creative collaboration, I need to bum a little inspiration off her to jump start my day. She does not disappoint! From tales of the shenanigans on her last set to the news of a groundbreaking PSA she’s just beginning, I feel my pulse come back to life and my energy elevate. By the end of the conversation we have a lunch date set and I’m thoroughly inspired to start my work. Thank you!
Is that what friends are for or am I a leech? Sucking inspiration out of an unsuspecting innocent? In my defense, it’s not like I got on the call and announced my intentions to rob her blind of some desperately needed inspiration. Nor did I share any part of my sad sack self by being all negative Nelly. I acted “as if” like my old Meisner coach taught me until the positive energy was real. She just had to be herself. I added the water and stirred. What a gift she’s unknowingly given me! Not just her friendship but also the gift of inspiration. I do hope that I can return the favor knowingly or unknowingly very soon. Who knows? Maybe I already have.
Inspire me, please.
Interesting. We can’t always know when we affect someone—positively or negatively. That feels like powerful intel! Makes me think of The Four Agreements and being impeccable with your word. I need to reread that. I hope I didn’t loan it to anyone. Let me go look. Oh good. There it is on my bookshelf, right above my Magic 8 Ball. Excellent. Even without rereading the book, common sense tells me it’s probably a good idea to put my best words, feet and energy forward out into the world even if I have to act “as if” until it’s real. Who wants to be a negative Nelly and bring others down? I don’t. If done properly, a little harmless poaching of some inspiration now and then won’t hurt anybody.
This compulsive confessing makes me realize as I think outside the box inside the box and create from what I have today I always have the gift to inspire or be inspired. How fantastic! Inspire me, please. I’ll do my best to return the favor.
Until tomorrow, create from what you have…the gift to inspire and be inspired.
Very important to remember. For it is only with the original spark of inspiration, that our creations can fully come into being.
As I sit on my couch today, temporarily sidelined with a minor illness, I am reminded of something that has been missing from my life lately: writing. Thank YOU for the inspiration.
This is so true and inspiring to boot. We can draw so much from our connected relationships which act many times like magnets and mirrors alike! It’s more give and take than we realize! This experiment is very inspiring!