Be inspired

   Have you ever paused to wonder where the explorers of old, great works of art, or beautiful movements of music have gone? What about the authors who, in a single line, can transport you into the most amazing places and with the next you're at the center of an adventure so grand that life feels lackluster in comparison? I have been challenged lately looking into the lives of Men like Jack London, Rudyard Kipling, and Teddy Roosevelt. These men lived lives of adventure and let nothing stand in their way. In actuality I was convicted; I wasn't living out my passion of writing and exploring the world around me. They inspired me.

 

   To be inspired is a dangerous thing. It dares us to dream and threatens to break the walls of our safety and comfort. It thrusts us into the wild and pushes us to create something new. It calls us to give sacrifice of ourselves and bring life into the world. It thrusts us into the thick of life with expectation to rise, to challenge, to conquer our greatest foe, and keep pushing on. That doesn't sit well with this generation. Inspiration in modern society is a bird, we clipped its wings and locked it in a cage. But flight was our aim, how mislead we've been when we believe all that was to be done, has been done. Our greatest enemy is ourselves. God did not create man to fear the world but to master it. The world is so vast and large and there is more to it then we believe we know. There is more to reach for, but we must be inspired.  

 

"Inspiration in modern society is a bird, we clipped its wings and locked it in a cage. But flight was our aim, how mislead we've been..." 

   Inspiration is a gift from God, He places dreams in the hearts of men so that they may live a life exploring the depths of his creation. To paint or photograph the moments in life so beautiful we should be ashamed of keeping them to ourselves. He placed them in that moment to be seen and experienced not hoarded and hidden away in the far reaches of memory to fade and be forgotten.

   To create a song so sweet and delicate that at our core we resonate emotion with each vibration stirring together all manner of life. Rich and poor brought into common ground build on the fondest of memories and experiences, a whirlwind of people, places, and sounds. Music to lift burdens and lighten the load we all carry on our shoulders. Lyrics that cut to the heart leaving one vulnerable and defenseless in a moment or building ones courage to heights that walls could never hold them captive again.

   To write in ways in which one feels the words wrap around them as close as a friends embrace. To construct a world around the reader so convincing that it blurs together with reality itself making the two seem the same. Placing one in the midst of kings, heroes, pirates, explorers, soldiers, leaders, and undiscovered people in adventures that will impact your character and mold who you are. Words that will come to you in the deepest pains and greatest joys to express love, loathing, and loneliness. To still your anxious nerves or burst your heart into machine gun fire and all with a single phrase from literature.

"The only thing holding you back is the cage and a secret; it was never locked."

   Inspiration gave men the zeal to lead, to explore this vast world and record it in the most amazing ways possible! But they had to have the courage to follow their dreams. They had to open their cages and fly free from their homes and embrace the unknown. The only thing holding you back is the cage and a secret; it was never locked. You may fail and fall but don't let that ever be what stops you. Get back up and start again, have the determination to see it through to the end and you will never be the same. Every so called failure is just encouragement that your story isn't over...what are you waiting for!? 

Be Inspired. 

- Alex The Bear Whitlow