Take inspiration where you can get it

Since being in Korea, my eyes have been opened a bit more. In the States, my eyes were clouded with the mundane and routine. I was used to the seeing the same things and used to a certain way of life. Here, I've had to adapt to a completely different culture. I've met people from other countries with completely different outlooks and I've learned so much from them. Just seeing a different perspective in a different mind is inspiring. I've met and I've talked to so many people, all with different stories and different dreams. Some interactions were less than desirable, while others were the complete opposite. Both had an impact. Both were inspiring.

People that I've meet once or a few times left me with words or images that inspired me in some way. For example, I had a friend who left a few months ago. I'd only known her for just a few months, but she was such a passionate and genuine person. The small amount of time I spent with her inspired me to have more conviction. Thanks Sasha :). 

I had coffee with my neighbor the other day, another foreigner. He was leaving Korea and I wanted to hear about what he planned to do next. Turns out, he had this whole amazing year and half lined up which consisted of living in Indonesia for a month volunteering under this awesome conservation project and then traveling to South America to study and live for a year. I was then reminded of all the dreams I had of going to volunteer abroad in South America and Africa for wildlife conservation- All the dreams I had of traveling around different countries. So, I thought it's time to re-visit those dreams. Now, I've filled out a few applications for volunteering abroad after my contract ends. Thanks Tommy:)

 A few days ago, I had a semi-drunk conversation with this guy I recently met. He asked me if I wrote fiction because he saw a status I posted on Facebook.  I said "yeh, but it's a hobby, I'm no author". I just remember him saying something akin to"Fuck that, if you write something you're an author vs. someone who thinks about writing something, but never does it". So, even in my slightly inebriated mind, I thought, "yeh, he's right. I'm an author. I like to write. I've been writing since I was young. Even if my stuff is no good and no one wants to read it, I'm still an author." So after losing my flash drive that contained some recent stories I'd been working on, I couldn’t bring myself to turn on the computer and write. All I kept thinking about was how can a replicate the stories I lost. It wasn't pre-meditated. When I write, I sit down, start typing and the story comes to me, not the other way around. It's extremely hard to reproduce something like that because it happens in moments. Anyway, I thought of that drunken conversation and also some conversations with other people that I've had over the last few weeks and I turned on my computer and started working on of the stories I lost. Thanks Coby :)

 These interactions, however small and insignificant they may seem are actually more important than you realize. Don't take for granted these fleeting conversations, the fleeting moments of clarity that you get by looking through the eyes of another person. These people aren't placed in your life coincidentally. Sometimes it takes a drunken conversation or a sporadic meeting to remind you of yourself, of the life that you want, of your dreams and goals.  

Take inspiration where you can get it.

 I'd like to share a poem I wrote about not giving up on yourself. Follow your dreams and use the interactions and the beauty that surrounds you as inspiration.

The Trinity

Have you ever had a purpose and neglected it?

An idea, born of brilliance, but fear rejected it?

Notice the time you spend further away from yourself

The heart and soul were not meant to be separated

The mind sometimes is nothing but a hindrance

Rational thought, the human burden

In this we are all connected

Struggling to fuse a mind, a heart and soul

That we teach to repel like opposite ends of magnets.

Take heed, this is a consequence

Of a mind, blinded by the eyes that feed it

If you have a dream, chase after it

There’s nothing worse than being a victim of idle

Simply because you lack conviction

If you have an art, practice it

Because losing yourself to the mundane

Will not perfect it

That art is the link for your trinity

You owe yourself to express it

If you have a love don’t deny it

These moments are rare in its sincerity

When two hearts meet in greeting

In search of bonding and synchronicity

If you have a fault, don’t obsess about it

The most beautiful things aren’t perfect

There is always something to work at

You are ahead in your evolution

Close your eyes and imagine it

The mind, the body, the soul in perfection

A harmony so blinding, it hides confined in your body

A wicker of a candle so fortified

It burns throughout the span of your life

Remember to reinforce it

Lest you regret it.