What Inspires You?

I think being inspired can be a daily or near daily occurrence if you are open to it. There are these moments in the every day that just catch you. Like last Tuesday when I was driving to work and while stopped at a light watched a young girl and her mom cross the street. It was a cold fall day. The little girl could not have been more than 7 or 8 years old and she had on glasses, slightly too big for her face, a rainbow sherbert-colored knit cap and a pink winter coat with a hood that was pulled up over her head. And on top of that hood was a unicorn horn. As she smiled up at her mom, her mom grabbed her hand and they hurried across the street. At that moment, I thought how wonderful to be 7 years old wearing your rainbow sherbert cap and your favorite pink unicorn coat. Pure bliss.

The next day I was fortunate to see a friend’s dream realized and boy did that inspire me. A young woman who I admire and respect did something extraordinary. She and a few of her talented friends made a movie. Six months ago they just decided to develop a story into a script, put on a kickstarter campaign to raise some money to pay for production, run a casting call, scout locations, and then film. In six months they produced an 18-minute short film and it was awesome. No I mean it. It was Hollywood-quality, go to Sundance, win an Oscar awesome! How fabulous is it that we live in a world where this team of filmmakers, all in their 20s, have this dream that they can do what they love—storytelling—in the place they love—Northeastern Pennsylvania and they just make it happen. How cool is that! By the way, the film is titled “Blackhole.” and you should really go see it if you have a chance. It’s really, really good.

Today, was another day that inspired. Today was the day that I had to formally say “goodbye” to my friend, Anne. Anne passed away in June from metastatic breast cancer that spread to her brain. She was 54 years old. Anne was wicked smart, irreverently funny and tolerated no fools. She graduated from Wellesley with a double major in English and Philosophy (hence the wicked smart part). She leaves behind two college-age kids (who are also wicked smart), a bereft husband of 31 years, and about 80+ friends who assembled in West Chester today to pay their last respects. Anne’s friends came from California and New York from Virginia and Maryland from Massachusetts and throughout Pennsylvania. There were college friends, work friends, mom friends and high school friends. Anne was not much for stiff funeral traditions so her family hosted a Memorial Luncheon atop a century old barn. There were fresh flowers on the tables, string lights encircling the rafters and a disparate group of friends who came, shared stories, hugged, cried, and remembered Anne. While Anne was successful professionally, that was never mentioned. Rather, story after story told of her love of her family and children and her steadfastness as a friend. It was inspiring to see that my friend not only had a profound effect on my life but on the lives of so many other people. It was a reminder that it is the relationships you build during your life that will define you in death.

So from this week I learned to invest more time and effort in the people I care about. To pursue your dreams no matter what. And to wear that pink unicorn hooded jacket with your sherbert rainbow cap because “what the hell” you only live once and you never know who it will inspire!