Inspiring Minds

As someone who seeks wonder in each nook and cranny of the world, I find inspiration in the people I know, the places I travel, and the moments I experience. But if I were to pinpoint a single source of inspiration, it would be stories...it's always about the stories.

I'm sure I learned to read at some point, but there's not a moment I remember in my life when I didn't have a book on hand. The ornament above was a gift from my mom years ago --- she's always known the powerful command books have over me --- and the card next to it is the invitation to Gracie's book-themed (go figure!) baby shower. I can't tell you a favorite book any more than a mother could choose her favorite child (and yes, I can choose my favorite kid, considering that I have only [the best] one, so it's not quite the same).

What I can do is share some of the most enduring, magical, wonderful, and tragic words that have become a part of my world, just one more necessary component of life. Enjoy the journey through my mind's library.

People think Stephen King is the master of horror. They're right...and they're wrong.

King knows horror, yes, because he understands the tremendous capacity of human evil, while also understanding the equally strong compulsion towards kindness, compassion, and love.

Neil Gaiman is another master of fantasy and wonder. 

If this is true of Hell, might not the same also be true of Heaven? Such possibility in so few words.

Probably the first and most long-lasting literary love of mine is Ray Bradbury.

Mr. Murphy assigned that we choose one passage from a classic text and respond analytically. As a 10th grade student, I selected Fahrenheit 451, a novel about a society that burns books to strip them (and the people) of their power. You can see the feedback I got for my paper above. It was the first time that I thought perhaps I actually had something worth saying, and it was one of the only times a particular teacher was an impetus in leading me down the path to self-discovery. Books and teaching: this experience *may* have played a part in shaping who I am today. 😉 And since I never had the foresight to say it at the time: thank you, Mr. Murphy.

Most of my favorite stories stroll through the loneliest paths at the darkest times of night. Yet I love them largely for the ray of light, however faint, that streams through their blackest depths. Kurt Vonnegut's work is an embarrassingly-recent passion, and I love balancing the sharp edge between his humor and cynicism. 

When seeking the magic of a well-told story, there is no parallel for J.K. Rowling and the entire world she's created. 

In considering the greatest inspiration in my life, I contemplated the wondrous (my daughter), the mundane (my drive to work each day), and the odd hybrids of the two (the daily work of a successful marriage). But at the end of the day, it all comes back to the stories, to the words. Because they possess the amazing power to transport us, to frighten us, to empower us, and to remind us that we're all in this together, so long as we're willing to live out the visions that dance behind our eyelids in every waking hour.