Back in 2008, I wrote a blog post about People that inspire me. I could add so many people to that blog post.
But instead I decided to look at the qualities in people that inspire me. Here’s my list of qualities that those people display:
Accepting.
Authentic.
Balanced in their thinking.
Battle their inner demons.
Believe in fairness and equality.
Brings joy to others.
Can have a presence on entering a room or blend into the background in social situations.
Captivating Story Teller.
Careful in their actions.
Cares about others.
Comfortable with themselves.
Confident yet humble.
Connects emotionally with others.
Creative.
Describes their own thoughts & feelings through words well.
Determined.
Diplomatic.
Dislikes injustice.
Empathetic.
Enthusiastic.
Flawed.
Funny.
Generous.
Good communicator.
Has others following them.
Honesty.
Humorous.
Independent.
Influences others.
Intelligent.
Is a Collaborator.
Is a Doer.
Is a Dreamer.
Is Grateful.
Kindness.
Knows when, who and why to ask for help.
Makes others feel comfortable.
Makes others laugh.
Motivational.
Non-judgemental.
Occasional vulnerable.
One-step ahead of others.
Open minded.
Optimistic.
Passionate.
Patient.
Positive.
Relaxed in new situations.
Self-aware.
Sensitive.
Shares their Knowledge and wisdom.
Sincere.
Stands up for the rights of others.
Supports & helps others.
Unconventional.
Values community.
Vibrant.
Wants a better society for all.
Wants others to reach their potential.
Willing to fight for a cause.
Wise.
Works hard.
I’m sure there’s many other qualities that could be added to the list. I also know that as well as people, many other things inspire me. Things such as music, books, films, paintings, nature, animals and expressions of love to name but a few.
What qualities do you admire in the people that inspire you? Feel free to share by leaving a comment below.
Reading Time: 2minutesRecently I’ve been thinking about being creative, but not actually doing anything creative. Creativity should be something I do everyday, as it has so many benefits, including:
It lights up my imagination, giving me pleasure and increasing my happiness.
It motivates me.
It is good for my mind, heart and soul. It makes my mind more active, my heart beat faster and enriches my soul.
It helps me deal with my feelings, good and bad. It also helps me to express these feelings.
It makes me a better problem-solver. When I’m feeling creative, I can come up with better solutions to problems.
It allows me to explore ideas.
It enables me to look at events, situations and people in different ways.
Helps me to hope for and imagine better or alternative futures.
It gives me hope, at times when I feel that I need it.
Other people’s creativity inspires me.
The way to be more creative, is to play, as children do inhibited. So when I was at Waterstones at the weekend and saw these books, I just had to pick them up. Here’s my opportunity to play and be creative:
I picked up both of these books along with a pack of felt tip pens. I’m going to draw or write something in these books at least once a day. I’ve already started.
I’ll be posting my progress here by sharing a few scanned images. Don’t expect any drawing I do to be an artistic master piece (for that see my fabulous Illustrator friend Sye); or that any writing I do will be literary genius. Just take it for what it is – me playing. I’m aiming to post a progress update once a week.
Reading Time: < 1minuteThroughout our life journey we travel a path that’s filled with learning. Here’s something I forgot along the way:
As a child I had a lot of self-belief and the confidence to try new things. I don’t quite know when I lost belief in myself or the confidence to try; all I know is that I did. I didn’t write for a long time because of this lack of self-belief and confidence.
But I’ve re-learned this lesson and now my writing is going from strength to strength. I’m now writing short stories and doing some journalistic pieces. It just goes to show that all it takes is a little self-belief and the confidence to try and you can do anything.
Reading Time: 2minutesMy good friend Sye was back from Uni for the Summer and needed a place to crash; I happened to have a spare room so he came to stay. His creativity and motivation seemed to rub off onto me as I got on top of the housework and even started putting together my ‘Loved Ones’ Wall.
The ‘Loved Ones’ Wall is in my hallway and the concept is to buy one photo frame a month, fill it with a photo of good times with someone who I love be it family or friends. When complete it should be a wall of mismatched photo frames that come together show the people I love, their personality and diversity reflected in the different photo frames. It’s an idea I’ve had and been saying I’ll get round to starting for two years. Sye helped me decide the positioning of the first few photo frames, did the manly, butch job of hammering the nails and slamming the doors to makes sure that they were secure enough on the Wall. Here is the work in progress:
(Click on image for full size photo.)
Now before I get loads of comments saying: “Hey, I’m not on the Wall…” Please bare in mind that I’ve only just started this and that I’ll be added too it every month.
Sye’s been a great support while I’ve had problems with my waterworks. No, I didn’t mean those waterworks…I mean’t that my bath had been leaking. The cost of the plumber to fix the water leak has been covered by me, but luckily the cost of replacing two damaged floors and a wall is covered by my buildings insurance.
Without a doubt the best thing about having Sye to stay has been being able to share experiences of day-to-day life. Talking about our successes and celebrating them with cake, discussing anything that wasn’t a success and learning from the experience. I miss being able to come home and exchange stories about the day. The cats listen but to be honest don’t seem that interested – sometimes they even yawn before falling asleep.
So I’d like to thank Sye for his stay over the Summer, he’s probably helped me out as much – if not more than I was helping him out.
