A friend recently posed this question to me. He compared it to the riddle of the chicken and the egg. Someone once asked, “Which came first?” You need a chicken to produce an egg, and a chicken must have come from an egg. Is there a definitive answer?
I think his question is completely different, however. The chicken and the egg conundrum is a causality dilemma, and while both questions are circular, I don’t think his questions deals with cause and consequence.
First, what is the meaning of “inspire”? The dictionary defines it as
1: to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural inspiration; to exert an animating, enlivening, or exalting influence on; to spur on; affect.
2: archaic: to breathe or blow into or upon; to infuse (as life by breathing)
3: to communicate to an agent supernaturally; to draw forth or bring out
4:inhale
The origin of “inspire” itself comes from the Latin word, inspriare, from in- + spirare meaning to breath.
Thus, when you are inspired, you are filled with the breath of that which inspires you. It is what keeps you alive and stimulated; what moves you to a certain course of action. It is that which allows you to function and to thrive. Inspiration is the essence of life, and in so being; it motivates you to follow that which influences you.
But can you not also inspire the world? Can you not breath life into those around you, to those who have the opportunity to meet you? Each action you take, each decision that you make effects someone, or something. These actions may be small, or seemingly inconsequential, but you can never know who may be affected by that which you do. Your actions can be a catalyst to incite the actions of others, which in turn will inspire more people. You yourself can be the embodiment of Inspiration.
I don’t feel as though these two ideas can be separated. It is not a matter of which comes first: both occur simultaneously. The world is inspiration, because we human beings are part of that world. Think of it this way: breathing can be painful, or pleasant, difficult and laborious or easy and mindless. We will never realize all that inspires us. We will never be able to look back at our lives and dictate every single moment or person, or being that brought a certain decision or character trait to light. In turn, the world will not be able to show all the individuals who have shaped its course. Yet I know that we have all made an impact on this world. Whether it be on a large or a minuscule scale, inspiration is never singular.
Back to my whiny rants: My contact at the school finally emailed me back, only to say, hey, I’m not in town till Thursday but I’ll see ya then!
Wow, thanks. :/
So basically, I came a week early, with nothing to do; nothing I can do by ways of paperwork etc. Just wasting my parents’ money on this hotel because I can’t move into my apartment. (sorry mom and dad) So… I’ll just sit here some more. And walk around a bit, and admire the pictures I took, cause I like ‘em. I’ll put my favorites below (when my internet gets better!!) Anyways, off to another empty day. Maybe I’ll start preparing for my courses. Oh wait. I have no idea what age I’m teaching, or their level of English. Yay.
AAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahem. Sorry for that. Enjoy the photos! (in a bit)
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