May 25 2008
What is Inspiration and What Inspires You?
Hi,
A little while ago I sent out a survey about what my friends and subscribers like most about the information, products and services I offer.
Many of the responses were “Angel Inspiration” and that got me thinking as to what exactly that meant.
I started by asking myself some questions such as:
“What is Inspiration?”
“How would I feel if I felt Inspired?”
“What Inspires Me?”
“What is Inspiration?”
According to the Oxford Dictionary, “to inspire” means to “put uplifting thoughts, feelings or aims into something” or “to fill with creative power” or to “create a feeling or to fill with the urge or ability to do something” or ” to animate, encourage, arouse, stimulate or motivate”.
We’ll come back to Motivation another time because I think there is a huge difference between Motivation and Inspiration.
Some of the other words I found in the Thesaurus were : “influence, move, stir, energize, give rise to, cause and awaken.”
This are some pretty wonderful words, so what kind of feelings does that create?
Well, for me, I suppose that would be feelings of creativity, getting ideas and acting on them, feelings of flow, of ease, of things falling into place as I would like them to, of people and opportunities showing up at just the right moment and feeling great about the things I am doing.
That means there is a complete absence of “must, should, got to, ought to, have to, need to” and other things where there is a sense of obligation.
So what Inspires me or You?
I love to look at beautiful pictures of sunrises and sunsets, crashing waves on the sea-shore, favourite places of mine and stars.
I find quotes or poems can touch me and stir some good feelings in my heart.
One of my favourite quotes is a poem that was sent to me by my dear friend, Jenny.
“Dance like no one is watching,
Sing like no one is listening,
Love like you’ve never been hurt,
Live like it’s heaven on earth.”- Mark Twain
I love gentle, relaxation music where I can just close my eyes and drift off to somewhere wonderful, such as a sandy beach or a quiet garden.
Or maybe seeing a picture of an Angel in the Road, caused by the light shining through the trees.
What about you?
What is inspiration for you? What inspires you?
I would love to hear some of your favourite things that inspire and uplift you.
Please let me know.
With abundant blessings.
Amanda Goldston
www.AngelsofAbundance.com
8 Responses to “What is Inspiration and What Inspires You?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
As a visual artist and writer, I find that I’m greatly inspired by the natural world. I live beside a large river estuary and the bird-life is amazing. I aim to capture their graceful qualities by replicating their delicate form by using thin slivers of paper to emulate their feathers and slowly building up a 3D image.
In addition to the incredible wildlife, the tones, textures and patterns that emerge on the muddy riverbed at ebb tide is truly beautiful. I have photographed many of what I like to call ‘mudscapes’ and have exhibited these to appreciative audiences.
Hi Carolyn,
Thank you for your comments. I am also very inspired by visual things. I love sunsets, sunrises, scenery andwide open spaces.
Your work sounds beautiful and really inspirational.
Amanda
Hi all,
Thank you so much for your comments and inspirational emails I have received. I would like to share a couple of the inspirational things I have been sent.
Greetings Amanda,
Lately, I’ve been enchanted and inspired by the vitality and unlimited imagination of my 4-year-old nephew. Every moment is pure adventure for him…needless to say, he hates bedtime!
best wishes from Mike the mobile therapist
Hi all,
I was very humbled and very inspired by a message I had from Toni Goodchild, about her son, Ben. In Toni’s words, ”
“My inspiration is my son who chose life after his heart stopped for 50mins at age one. He is now 6 and is the happiest child and inspires everyone he meets to smile even though his body doesn’t work, also the actual gift of life should inspire us all we have been given the most angelic gift in our own creation.
He does make you realise that there is much much more we need to learn about our spirits and what we can endure. He has changed many peoples views on disability and many more on survival after death”
Hugs and Healing, Toni
I did a Google search and found the rest of this inspiring story.
You can read it at the link below:
http://archive.basingstokegazette.co.uk/2003/9/23/42992.html
Thank you for sharing that with us, Toni
Another inspirational email came from Maria,
Hi Amanda!
When I was young I really didn´t reflect on what inspired me or not, I just could recognize the feeling of being happy and energized.
Looking back now I remember that It was people around me caring for me learning me that there are no limitations to what one can achieve if we really believe and have the determination on our goals together with a good sense of heart.
Now when I’m older I sometimes forget this and things sometimes feel really difficult and insecure, but then I find the moments from when I was young and bring them back and find that things turn out really good when I think positive.
What also inspires me are people who care, are knowlegded and are willing to share their experiences with other to help them grow as persons.
We all need small reminders sometimes to bring back our childlike wisdom to us as adults.
Recognition inspires me and sharing the successes that we make inspires me also.
Being thankful for small moments together with my children sharing my wisdom and hopefully that we they will see me as the best mother in the world even though I have my ups and downs.
Here are some of my thoughts of what inspires me as a person.
Hi all,
Some of the other things that inspire me are being with my husband and children and hearing everyone laughing and having fun.
I feel so energised after I have laughed so much that my ribs hurt!
I feel very inspired when I look at stunning scenery and I have a picture above my desk of one of my all time favourite places in the world.
http://www.getyourdreamlife.com/images/Valleyoftherocks200.jpg
I feel inspired when I think of sitting on that hill, looking out to sea, with the wind in my hair and enjoying the absolute peace and tranquility.
I feel really inspired when I see something that one of my children have done and they are proud of their own accomplishment.
I feel really inspired when I meet people who have overcome all sorts of adversity in their life and have continued to smile.
I get a huge feeling of inspiration when I think about creating new products and recordings because it gives me so much pleasure to do.
With abundant blessings.
Amanda
Another comment from Tina in Greece:
Hi Amanda, it’s funny you sent me this email.
I was just thinking about my lack of recent inspiration for my lyric writing.
I believe inspiration comes from the divine, suddenly a window or door opens and it comes flooding in.
On the other hand motivation is an utterly earthly thing.
Do you have any good tips for enhancing inspiration
Is there anything we can do to open the doors to it.