We may often think of inspiration, or being inspired, as something like music, a song, serenade, movie, book, poetry … something we can pin point, or see perhaps in a spiritual guide or motivational speaker. But really, inspiration is happening all the time, not only when we’re teary-eyed or motivated; it is a heart touch, a soul touch, whose impast may take a while to understand.
It isn’t loud, nor always visible on a grand stage – it is often quiet and subtle like the wings of a butterfly on our shoulders. It is a little like air, a breeze, a fragrance, that then moves through us, shifts us, moves us in a way that we become a bit more gentle, lighter in step, more tender and in love, and our posture too changes, our eyes too, shift towards the horizons.
It is like a rose, whose petals we’ve held and touched, and its scent stays with us long after we’ve unheld it; and then we touch others’ hands with this fragrance, and so it goes on, from hand to hand.
Inspiration is when someone has touched us with gentleness, with grace, with kindness, with compassion. It stays with us, for these are all fragrances of love. And we then can touch another’s hand with it.
Inspiration is like the words of a poem that then dances us into a poem. We come across someone’s writing, and it isn’t even words we are reading, it is as if something deeper is now moving through us.
Inspiration means “to in-spirit”, to transpose or pass along a particular spirit, or “to breathe into”.
Every day we come into contact and engage with particular “spirits”. We move through energies of hope, fear, joy, compassion, judgment, peace, jealousy, greed, courage, love, responsibility, kindness, trust and service. Some of these spirits are more uplifting and even playful – and our chests expand in greater love, greater acceptance, greater trust; and we soften into compassion, tenderness, love. Others are a bit more contracting, and our grips tighten, palms close, and we need retreat, whether from real or perceived threat.
These spirits touch and shape us through our surroundings, the people we listen to, the conversations we take part in, and whatever else we choose to engage in. Not all needs to be engaged in, sometimes we can merely just observe, but let us pass through us and away from us. But sometimes it stays within us, and we then touch another with it. There are choices to be made always, and awareness is key.
Our culture too has a spirit, societies have spirits too, our family lineage has a spirit, our workplace has a spirit, and even furniture has spirit – wooden, steel. All have their own temperatures and textures also – some are more ice-y, others softer, or cooler, or rockier; and some people feel like silk, the softest and most tender, or like a wild rose whose sweetest scent stays with us for years, perhaps even a lifetime, and when we close our eyes it is always there and has shaped us in the deepest and most beautiful way. This is the hidden reality of impact present behind everything we encounter – all has a spirit, an air that touches us even when we can’t see it.
And just as we breathe in these, whether consciously or unconsciously, we’re also breathing out our own spirit to those around us and to the world. We are always inspiring others, whether we are aware of it or not. Our movement, our touch, our words – it is a dance and touches others continuously. We are in a constant exchange of inspiration, where we give and receive, inhale and exhale each others’ love, values, ideas and beliefs.
And we are in a continously relationship with life itself, with the streets upon which our feet walk, and with nature and wildlife; and even if confined to a room, we are still in a relationship to this world and if we become really aware, and truly notice, we’ll still how all is imbued with spirit, in union, and we can build intimacy to that, through our noticing and awareness.
We all need to be conscious of our actions, behaviours and intentions, but we also need to understand that it is the spirit of our behavior that quietly shapes the environments and people around us – and it also shapes us also, for what we believe is how we will act, what we’ll say yes to and accept and engage with.
A kind person wouldn’t just experience kindness within, they will pass this on to others. A hopeful person wouldn’t just experience hope within, they will also pass this on to others. In the way way, selfishness too is passed, greed too is passed, hardness is too passed.
It is not just poems, songs and violins that inspire – we all inspire someone along the way. No matter how insignificant you may think your words of kindness were, for this other person it might have meant the world, made their day, and given them hope for years to come.
Love has many different speeds and movements, various shapes and forms. It unfolds through joy, compassion, hope, generosity, kindness, grace, forgiveness, encouragement, peace, support, respect, acceptance and creativity. And every time we embody this love through our lips, hands and gestures, we give it life – we breathe it into others. We leave little sparkles along the way, like fireflies in the night to show others the way when they feel lost and discouraged. It’s no small thing.
We are all inspiring others every day throughout our life; and it is our spirits that live on forever, and have helped nurture the soils, given life to flowers and fruits, and will continue to bare seeds for long after we’ve gone – because what we’ve given, and breathed into, will be carried by others and shared by them also.
For more of my writings, browse through my Art of Love.
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