Breathing words.

In a world full of chaos, confusion and uncertainty, there is nothing like the sharp, definitive blackness of comic sans to bring me into focus (other fonts are available ;) ).  I have always had a soft spot for words, vocabulary and expression via the written word but that soft spot has slowly and uncontrollably snowballed into a need, a desire, a passion!

Whenever I sit and think about where my life is heading - and at the tender age of 34 I still haven't discovered where that is - I become so overwhelmed with words and thoughts that it's impossible for me to ignore or dismiss.  They are there, like it or not, bubbling over in my brain, breeding and multiplying like the proverbial rabbit, my hand subconsciously itching to expel them onto whatever medium is available.  It's a need!  Not a choice but a tsunami of vocabulary spilling forth onto paper or screen or a napkin I have to hand.  And as much as I enjoy these creative eruptions, it's the profound sense of peace, clarity and organisation that follows which truly shows me that this passion is a gift, a natural birth right, a DNA sourced gene that is a building block of who, and what, I am.

Isaac Asimov has been quoted as saying, "Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers", and I agree with this wholeheartedly, as well as Wordsworth's quote instructing, "Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart".  Is there any truer concept for a writer than that their writing is borne of an unstoppable binding of heart, mind and soul that simply has to be expelled?

And how do I hone this passion?  How can I perfect and indulge and feed this God-given part of me?  By consuming the very thing I want to produce.  Surrounding myself with the work of those who learned before me and those that learn alongside me. By absorbing the written word in as many forms as possible and by letting the passion of others always be a fuel to my fire. I just have to remember to always stoke the flames.  :)

"Throughout human history, our greatest leaders and thinkers have used the power of words to transform our emotions, to enlist us in their causes, and to shape the course of destiny. Words can not only create emotions, they create actions. And from our actions flow the results of our lives".

Tony Robbins

Is there any worthier passion, than a passion with the power to change the world?

Make Or Break.

Inspiration is everywhere.   In every breath - from the wonders of the intricacies of the human body at work - to the unexplainable workings of the little known universe.   As humans, we stand on a spinning rock, in the midst of mostly undiscovered nothingness, creating life from the most microscopic of cells, while searching for more than the invisible gas that sustains our very existence.

We time ourselves by a burning ball of gas that we magically orbit while relying on a distant rock that magically orbits us.  Do we need more inspiration than that?  Than our very own existence and life?  It appears so, because for all the wondrous, unexplainable occurrences that give and sustain our lives, we always want more.

For me personally, inspiration comes in the form of successes and failures.   Personal successes show me that I can achieve things given the right set of circumstances.  They inspire me to create those circumstances in order to achieve greater things more often.

The success of others shows me that there are no obstacles too big, no worthy excuses, there are no limits except the limits that I set for myself! They inspire me to think bigger, try harder, go further and never be afraid to veer off a used path or think differently.

Success, to me, inspires me to gain perspective, believe in myself and my capabilities and to celebrate achievement no matter how small!

Failure! Eugh, how I hate that word and it's very existence! But unfortunately, failure is part of life and you can either let it defeat and define you or, you can let it build and strengthen you!

Failure is my greatest inspiration because it teaches me that I can't quit. That giving up isn't an option because my failure has already lead me closer to my success.  That the journey to achievement is equally as important as the achievement itself.  I learn so much about myself from my failures that I know I couldn't ever have succeeded without those lessons first.

Failures remind me that I'm human and that anything worth having is worth striving and fighting for but more importantly, they remind me that I'm already more successful than those that never even tried!