Kind of sounds like the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe doesn’t it?

But this is mostly about the Inspiration today.

Each day, I try to do something that will cause me to be happy … that will, for no other reason, brighten my day. And then, in the telling of it, the somethings have been known to brighten other people’s days.

There have been three efforts in that direction today.

First, the Hawk.

Specifically the Red-Tailed Hawk that appears periodically around my house. The one I could hear this morning … that I ran outside, camera in hand, to capture digitally.

Well, ran outside is a bit of a stretch. More like creak and groan outside.

But the hawk was nowhere to be seen. And the promised picture someone else had gotten of it is … well … small.

Scratch that idea.

Second, the Fish.

You have all read of the stories of me and the myriad of Betta Fish in the house here. Well, it turns out this whole fish and odd stories therein is a family tradition.

This story … well, these stories … deserve an adequate telling. And a little more clarification. But it did make me laugh at the reading of the email this morning.

Third, the Podcast.

The latest fish story has the makings of a podcast by Kris … in her Does This Happen To You podcasts. She has been kind enough to have done a few of my blog posts.

Here is her most recent podcast of one of my blog posts … http://kriskkaria.podbean.com/ It is of my story about Haggis, Hummus, Horses and Hounds.

If you have never checked these out, you should. They are great!! And of course hearing that Kris had done another of my blog posts made me very happy. I am flattered. She even uses the same microphone as I have sitting on my desk. Unused, but sitting there.

But Inspiration.  That is what I need.  That is what I always need. That is what any writer needs.

I was trying to explain to my long-suffering counselor recently about creativity and inspiration and how it all works … or doesn’t.  I quickly found that to explain inspiration … to explain this all to a non-creative person … well, suffice it to say this explanation seemed totally lost on him.

That creative process … how the idea comes in a sudden swoosh … fully formed … then only requires my fingers to pour it from brain to document.

Is this something that only creative folks understand? This thinking outside of the box? And who needs those boxes anyhow?

Then … quite inadvertently … I came across one of the Big Three today. Those three things that I can watch which without fail cause me to be re-energized … renewed … recharged … and inspired.

In case you ever need Inspired and are anything like me … I will share them here.

First is a speech given by Randy Pausch. I will tell you the story of Randy Pausch and me some other time. But for now suffice it to say that this link to his Last Lecture is excellent.

Second is a speech given by Steve Jobs in 2005. He speaks from the heart and from experience. And it never fails to inspire me.

Third is a speech … the one I pulled up today … the one I am listening to again as soon as I post this … by Neil Gaiman. It is exactly what I needed to hear today.

Exactly.

I am telling you, if I could find a man who was part Neil Gaiman, part Craig Ferguson … maybe with a dash of Sean Connery thrown in for looks … I might just be willing to try this heart / relationship / partner thing again.