My Inspiration is Everywhere

It’s Thursday. The sun is shining on an early March day in New Jersey bringing the not-quite-spring-yet temperature up to a comfortable 70 degrees. I decide to take my writing act on the road, and I lay claim on a table in the bookstore next to the self-help section. I feel like if I sit here, a few feet away from some of the most talented writers, I will absorb their brilliance and become inspired, or at the very least, be able to reach over and grab one of their masterpieces if I butt up against the dreaded writer’s block. I sit down, open my computer, take out my IPod (I unapologetically need to be surrounded by music when I write), and hit the “on” button. Just as I put in my earphones, the computer shuts itself off. Huh? Ok.

Annoyed, I wait to turn on my music until the computer fires up again. I decide to be a bad neighbor and eavesdrop on the conversation occurring at the table next to mine. Two older, brooding, tattooed men are sitting together with large books opened in front of them, papers sprawled out. One of the men has a deep voice that is melodic, almost hypnotizing, but I tune out of the bass and back into the lyrics. They are recovering alcoholics going over exercises in what seems to be an AA workbook. I hear words like “ego,” “spirituality,” and “powerlessness,” and it reminds me of conversations I have had before minus the alcohol dependence and the deep voices (but not the tattoos – I have three).

I tuned out of the conversation again. My computer is ready for me. I open up Microsoft Office and run my fingers over the keys several times. I’m not inspired and can’t even come up with a topic much less create art through words. F*ck. Maybe music will help. Demi Lovato has a beautiful voice with undertones of pain and suffering. Perfect for writing but still nothing. My mind starts wandering, and I think, “These guys next to me are so inspiring, and they don’t even know it. I want to tell them, but I can’t admit to being an eavesdropper.” AH-HA! That’s it! They are my inspiration! I’m so excited that I want to jump up and kiss them, but I raise the volume on my IPod and start typing instead.

Life is so beautiful.

Happy Healing!