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For me, inspiration is all about living in the moment and, in doing so, examining things from a different angle. A lot of my day is filled with routine activities. I wake up at a certain time, take the bus to University, go for a run, take the dog out, cook meals… With routines, it is easy to for me to go through the motions while my mind is elsewhere. On the walk to the bus stop, I might mentally prepare myself for the tasks I need to accomplish in town. While walking the dog, I might start planning tonight’s dinner or think over a conversation that happened earlier in the day. Similarly, on the bus, I might listen to some music on my iPod and “tune out” rather than absorbing the sounds around me.

Now, there are certainly plenty of circumstances in which “tuning out” is a mighty good idea (e.g. crying babies, to avoid conversing with drunk folks on the last buses of the night). However, I often find that I am most inspired when I devote my full attention to the activities at hand, in which I truly live in the moment. I feel most inspired when I focus my attention on what it is that I am actually doing. In a sense, I feel truly “awake” then, because I'm not distracted by anything. Subsequently, I often notice new things about myself and my environment during the process, such as little flowers growing between rocks in a stone wall. At the same time, being committed to living in the moment has helped me to evaluate my passion (or lack of passion) for a particular activity or life direction. It is these moments of awareness that have motivated me to change the direction of my career (multiple times!) and to continue to follow my bliss. Additionally, taking small consistent steps toward a particular goal has made these particular experiences, among others, incredibly less daunting for me. As I focus and relish in each step of the process individually, it seems to take a bit of the pressure off.

However, before I paint a completely rosy portrait of my constant quest for inspiration, I must admit that I am easily stressed and tend to be quite a worrier. To truly “live in the moment” is, for me, a perpetual work in progress, just like me. Yoga, positive affirmations, and amazing friends are some of the things that keep me on track and on the path to follow my bliss.  Yet, I believe that inspiration is, at heart, about finding ways to continuously renew our ownpassion for life, love, and others. Whether this is stopping to notice overlooked details along a daily path, or changing your path altogether, it is something that is certainly not easy, but definitely worth fighting for.