A Candle Which Burns Twice as Bright, but Half as Long (Part 2)

I’ve already introduced the concept behind this segment (which is 3 parts, so only one more after this one), so I will just dive right into it.

            In order to keep your energy and interest up in anything, it is important that you keep yourself mentally stimulated.  No matter how devoted a person is to their work, it will eventually wear on them.  What I suggest is finding time, every day (or every other), to take a break from your various tasks and projects, and explore the very root of why you are doing what you’re doing, and try to tap into that in a conscious way.

            As I write this, the SOPA and PIPA Acts are an especially relevant topic, and so I will provide you a link to learn more about them, and decide for yourself what side to fall upon. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:CongressLookup?new=yes

http://americancensorship.org/

Why is that a relevant segue?  I’d be a fool if I didn’t admit that one of the easiest way to get back in touch with a variety of passions is the internet, and how it provides such an extraordinary device for exploring so many things (just…don’t spend too much time watching cats on youtube or poking people on facebook…please)

Now that that little rant is out of the way, back to the subject at hand.  Find time to connect with your passion.  There are times when we “need” this, and we take a break to go on a binge of inspiration.  That’s natural.  What I propose, however, is finding a way to regularly stimulate yourself and your passion.  Continue to fan and feed the fire, instead of bringing it back to life as it dies.  It may not be as exciting, but the consistency of your devotion will make you happier.

I cannot tell you how to connect.  Read some blogs about politics if you work on the Hill.  Check the Hopkins news releases to find out about new technology and discoveries if you’re in medicine.  Go to a museum if you love art.  Listen to a new band if you are a musician.  Do something that makes sense, and makes you smile.  Do something that does not feel like work, but keeps you working.

Never stop asking yourself “why?”  If you continue to be able to answer that question, every day of your life, you will know and believe in yourself and your work more than you ever thought possible.  That is the simplest, and surest way to keep your mind healthy and growing.

Today, I leave you with a few of my favorite pieces of art, discovered in those moments where I needed to connect to my own inspiration over the years.

Inspired Design Inspires...Infinitely

This post actually comes from a suggestion of a friend, something they believed would be interesting to read, and will hopefully allow for a bit more insight into just who is writing this.

           

            What inspires me, personally, as an artist, and motivates me to pursue this particular career.

            I believe the heart of my answer would have to be the infinite capacity of people and places.  What, is that too vague and unclear?  Okay, let me try to explain.

            Starting with places, I am not simply inspired, but awed, by the world we live in.  I have been very fortunate in my life to have traveled and seen a wide spectrum of sights already.  I have seen different cities from London to Tokyo, and natural beauty from Thailand to Ireland.  What amazes me is how in my young life, how easily it has been for me to travel to these places, and how they all exist on the same world.  The more I see (and will continue to see for the rest of my life), the more I fall in love with planet Earth.  The natural beauty, combined with the manifestations of human will have created a spectacular sight.  Personally, however, I keep coming back to how incredible it is that all of these places, which could not be more varied, all exist together.  On top of that, each place means a million different things to each person-no two people are truly experiencing the same world.  Some see significance, some history, some live on the surface without taking in their surroundings, and so on.  The more I think about the world, and our ability to perceive it, the larger my own perceptions grow to attempt to take it all in, and the more profoundly thankful I am to be a part of it.

           

            Following this idea, I would not have a world to be moved by if not for the people who shape and inhabit it.  Just as the world can be seen and experienced as an infinite number of places, there exists this same, infinite capacity inside every person.  Simply put, every second of every person’s life is filled with a near-infinite number of choices.  Without going into the world of science fiction and comic book-parallel worlds, what this means to be is that we have an infinite number of chances to be amazing.  True, most decisions are things like, “blink now,” or “turn right instead of left,” but there still remains the possibility that at any moment, each of us has the ability to do something spectacular.  I choose to focus on the times when people behave magnificently, not because I am blind to the cruel and darker nature of the world -the atrocities and injustices that are occurring globally- but because each time a person does something good, it carries the ability to resonate.  We empathize with the terrors of the world, and feel terrible, but when we see an act of kindness, it provides hope that truly can connect with us.  So, in every second, of every day, every person-even those we look at as evil or monstrous-have the infinite potential to do something truly inspiring.  That is how I choose to see people, as an infinite source for the amazing.

            These are the things that keep me going.  In terms of more literal inspiration, I could never pin down a list of what inspires me as an artist.  Sometimes a deer in my yard is an annoyance, and another day, I could see that deer and smile, and want to capture the moment in a picture or painting.  The world, and the people in it, offer continuous and infinite inspiration to me.

            That is inspiration, is my motivation.  On a planet with an infinite number of worlds, I am lucky enough to have a career in which I get to create and add more.  I hope that, in my life, I make the most of each moment, and do inspiring work that makes as many other people as possible connect with something deeper, something good.

            In a nutshell, I believe that “inspired design…inspires.”

            Infinitely.

Oh, and since this is a long and personal post-here are funny pictures of me as a kid.

Meeting the Red Ranger...in Japan.  I'm the one he's holding, not the one making the stupid face.

Riding an elephant.  In Thailand.  Cool, right?