the Poet, the Musician and the Photographer

I started this blog because it was a required assignment in my Social Media class.  Originally my professor, Deirdre Breakenridge, wanted us to write about business communications, reputation management and public relations in social media.  Thankfully, she changed her mind and allowed us to blog about things we’re passionate about.  If you read my about page, you know that my interests are here there an everywhere, and while I’ve shared some of my thoughts about politics, fantasy and travel, I thought I’d share something different this time.

The other day I had a conversation with a friend about inspiration and thought that’s what I’ll blog about.  The interesting thing about inspiration is that it can come from anywhere and communicates a barrage of feelings.

Here a few of the things that inspire me.

And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole.

And he fastened on his head-plate, and his breastplate and his shields, and girded on his armor about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the title of liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land—

Alma 46 12-13 

When I read this, I feel inspired to fight for the things that I love and cherish: my family, my friends, my country and my faith.  I don’t enjoy fighting, or war, nor do I wish to see death and destruction, but there are things that are worth fighting for.

There are a few songs that bring a tear to my eye every time I hear them.

While there are many versions of this arrangement, this is by far my favorite.  I’m far from perfect and this song inspires hope.

I’ve heard this song in many voices, arrangements, and styles, but I stand taller and prouder whatever the version I hear, whenever I hear it.

The men and women who’ve sacrificed, are sacrificing, and will sacrifice to defend the land that I love, will always inspire me.

I stand in awe of the universe.  The mystery and majesty of creation is inspiring.  The photos below create within my heart and mind the urge to explore, dream big, and never give up.

How long had man looked towards the heavens before he finally reached them?  How long will he look towards another planet before he reaches it? Too see these images are to believe in things that I cannot see, and acknowledge the beauty of things I don’t understand.

These are only a select few.  I suggest you take the time to see more.

So what photos make you dream?  What words have the poets penned that create a burning within your bosom?  What songs leave tears tumbling down your cheeks?

A Place for Inspiration?

Online communities have created a smaller and more interactive world, where we can communicate with just about anyone, whenever we want, wherever we want.

Most of us use social media to share photos, comments and brief stories.  But lately, there’s been a lot of rancor on many of the social media platforms.  With the 2012 U.S. Presidential election just about a week away, the electorate, many of them passionate about their politics, aren’t afraid to engage in dialogue with those whose views are different.  That’s a good thing.  No one party, and no one individual, can claim to have all of the best ideas, dreams and thoughts.  The free exchange of ideas is what’s made this nation great.  We need discourse in the public sphere in order to expose new ideas to scrutiny and rethink old ones.  However, discourse in the public sphere, especially on social media sites, has the tendency to quickly deteriorate into something rotten.

I’ve known a number of people who’ve closed down their social media accounts, or defriended someone, until after the election.  They say that the overwhelming amount of political content, and arguments that abound on walls, discussion boards and tweets is unbearable.  In fact, many of them are beginning to view social media as less of an interactive and informative world, and more as world of discord, advertisements and propaganda.

While much of that may be true, especially during the political season, let’s not forget what social media can do when harnessing the power of people by eliciting an emotional response.  It can certainly cause harm, as we’ve recently seen in the Middle East.  But, it can also be a source of strength and good.  In Egypt, twitter was the catalyzed in overthrowing a dictator who had been in power for decades.  While both of these examples demonstrate that social media can cause revolutions and protests, pride and prejudice, I’d like to focus on what it can do for an individual.

All of our struggles in life are different.  Some of us have strengths which others could only dream of, while many of us have weaknesses that others cannot fathom.  But in the end, all of humanity, at some point, whether briefly, or throughout their life, will at sometime feel underappreciated, lonely or sad.  It’s a given.  So what can social media to do encourage and build up an individual?  It can “like,” leave a “comment,” share an “instagram,” “tweet” a phrase, or post a “YouTube” video to that makes someone smile, laugh, feel appreciated, rewarded or wanted.  It often doesn’t take long only a second or two, but it can make a difference.

Over the last few weeks there have been a number of things I’ve seen on social media sites that have tugged at my heartstrings.  So I wanted to share a couple of the things that have inspired me, hopefully helped the individual and speak to the compassion and kindness of humanity.

1. Parents and individuals who have shared their creative time, energy and effort in constructing Halloween costumes for people in wheelchairs.  If you’ve been on Facebook the last month, I’m sure you’ve seen one of these videos.
2. This is an older post, but with roughly 2,750,000 views on YouTube, it’s still a hit.  Ike, a high school student with down syndrome is given the opportunity to play and score.  The coaches are teaching these young men more than just football and winning and loosing.

Yes, social media contains dram and rants, political arguments and advertisements, but besides being a place where we can communicate and interact, it can be a place where we can inspire and strengthen.

What videos, tweets, or posts have you see that have inspired you, or benefited someone else?