One breezy afternoon, my best friend and I decided to escape the stresses and demands of work and meet up for frappes and coffeecakes. As we were contentedly slurping our ice blended coffee concoctions topped with heavy whipped cream and idly watching passersby from our comfortable perch at the café…. she suddenly popped this question out of nowhere… “In these extremely confusing and disturbingly depressing events that are happening around us, where do we look for inspiration?”
Hmmm.. where indeed?
So this morning as I wait for the sun to rise for another day, I think that perhaps at this moment we all need a little or perhaps a great deal of inspiration. Don’t we? I know I need it badly.
I have been lacking inspiration myself these days. It has seemed that the universe has conspired to give me nodes and humps on the road where I am trekking right now. Navigating thru these bumps on my path and stumbling so many times along the way has exhausted me and made me think not just a few times of just giving up. Maybe this isn’t where I’m supposed to be? But the Lord is adamant! When He wills it… He’ll really lead you there! He constantly sends me His reminders of His plans for me and present opportunities… straight to my face. I should trust Him… why won’t I anyway? I must keep the faith and find that joy and inspiration.
I remember a quote from a book I read way back titled “How much joy can you take?” The book said: “Inspiration is everywhere. Most of the time, though, we can’t see it. And it isn’t even that we don’t look; rather, we don’t know how to look.”
We are living in an era that lacks gratitude. With what is happening in our country and the rest of the world… these are sad times. Hostility is ordinary. Hatred is familiar. In times when we are supposed to find laughter, humor is ironic; disillusionment is status quo. To wander outside and spend a moment enjoying the interesting way the rain makes puddles on the ground is considered a pointless and stupid thing to do. To be hip, we must be fast, cynical and powered up by the latest technology, whether it be anti-depressants or the latest gadgets. There is no time for reflection, so don’t even bother. “What’s that going to get you?” goes the popular thinking.
A big part of our dilemma comes from our addiction to things – toys that beep and a ceaseless parade of gizmos that all seem designed to counteract with each other. Short-lived technologies, all of which are around to keep us entertained, distracted, utterly bored and anti-social. Another setback on our joy is perhaps the discontent that prevails in our lives. Nothing or no one will ever be good enough. But then… who will be and what will be? Contentment does not mean settling for what is there. It is accepting what is being given but never stopping to strive for more…. and never losing hope that one day things will be better.
I once read this story about an artist who pioneered white-on-white minimalist painting. During one of his famous one-man shows he was asked how he started. He said, he was once a security guard in the museum of modern art. His ambition at that time was to be a jazz musician. But standing at the museum looking at the paintings on the walls day after day, began to get under his skin. And he realized that he was drawn to this art store he passes by everyday on his way to work. So one day he couldn’t resist it, he bought those materials and started his first painting… and the rest is history. What he has become at this point in his life… started from an idea that he had time to consider while standing guard in a great museum hour after hour, day after day.
This story for me is one example of finding joy in our everyday surroundings. For it is here in plain boring “everyday” reality that the best ideas begin and ultimately the success we’ve always sought after. I believe that finding joy ultimately begins with gratitude. We’ve got to perceive the life that unfolds around us as the rich source of information that it is. We’ve got to look at the perfect upheavals, coincidences, and crises of our life and the lives around us as what they really are – truly miraculous!
We have to cut the stifling backchat about the “bad this, painful that” and instead begin to find solutions to a million different creative problems and possibilities. For if we just do, I’m sure we will find a treasure trove of connections and a vast network of supporters.
It must be remembered that it was Beethoven’s massive fury with his deafness that made his Ninth Symphony the masterpiece that it is.
To quote M. Scott Speck in his book “The road less traveled and beyond” he wrote, “indeed how one responds to adversity and good or bad luck may be one of the truest measures of our ability to grow into gratefulness. We can look at some bad luck as a blessing in disguise. We can also maintain a sense of humility and not take good luck for granted.”
Do we complain about how bad the weather is most of the time or can we learn to appreciate the beauty and diversity of weather as a gift to us? If we are stuck in a traffic jam in a stormy rainy day, do we sit and curse or do we concentrate on the fact that we are blessed to have a car in the midst of a thunderstorm? Are we inclined to complain about our jobs and how bad business is doing rather than work on ways to improve our skills?
We can all make a difference in our lives and the lives of those around us if we just learn to open our eyes and feel the world we live in. Where do we look for inspiration? Look around.
Just remember this…
“Be careful… for what we focus on also determines what we might miss”.
