Where do you take your inspiration?
“In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.”
― Albert Camus, The Minotaur
When I find I am alone with just myself, I seize that time to think about my values, my decisions, the people in my life who inspire me to be the best me I can be, my hopes, aspirations and dreams, the formative experiences of my life an often the movies, quotes, and books that have most shaped who I am.
I go down this ‘reflection path’ when I have long drives, long plane trips, and just recently when I was in Jordan, where I was physically and metaphorically in the desert. What was so interesting about this trip was that it lit up my curiosity and expanded my personal biases and boundaries. With everything so new and different, I chose the eyes and heart of an open child to take in the experience. I was doing this with newly-met friends and so was also exploring new relationships, as well as this new country and my own inner landscape.
Only upon reflection did I realize that we didn’t introduce ourselves or connect with information about our work, our power positions, or what we do in the world. With every new person we talked more about who they were as a person and what most inspired them.
When meeting new people, it is really good to know how to ask expansive questions. The question I found that most engaged my new friends and the new people I met in every setting we moved to throughout Jordan was, “What inspires you?” followed by “What book(s) do your return to read regularly that have most influenced you?”
With strangers in a strange land these questions kept us around the fire, dinner table, and in the shade for hours of meaningful engagement. I was carrying a book with me to read that a client had recently recommended and this was the starting point of the conversation.
What I learned was, regardless of the country of origin, we all had favorite books. Many of us — despite being different in age, race, gender, ethnicity and religion — shared the same titles and exchanged many new titles.
So, now I am curious about you.
“From where do you draw inspiration?”
“What is your favorite quote from whom?” “
“What are the book(s) that you consider the most influential in your life?”
“Do you know this kind of information about the people you work with and live with?”
“What are you filling your head with to find as inspiration and to share and encourage others?”
“When stripped of the clutter and noise of your life, and with only nature and some friends around you, what gives you inspiration? What guides you?”
I will confess, I love to read and love books. So, at any time I have a list of great books in most categories (leadership, management, learning, loving, and just for pleasure). I would love to add more to my list from your favorites and am happy to share a recommendation anytime.
Leslie
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“I had already found that it was not good to be alone, and so made companionship with what there was around me, sometimes with the universe and sometimes with my own insignificant self;
but my books were always my friends, let fail all else.”
~ Joshua Slocum, “Sailing Alone around the World”
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