Tag Archives: inspiration

Oh My Hero

I feel like driving out to Newark, New Jersey to give Mayor Cory Booker a massage. He’s inviting people over to his friggin’ house. For meals and showers and television. For real. He’s amazing. I’ve had a crush on him for a while and became a fan of him on Facebook several months ago, and he’s been one of the best additions to my Facebook newsfeed. Before Superstorm Sandy his daily posts were inspirational and they still are, but man the boy has amped it up. He says things like:

Tough times don’t always build character but they usually do reveal it. Thanks to all who are lifting themselves by lifting others.

Battered but not beaten. Without power but not powerless. We stand strong. We stand together. We will persevere.

“You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.” C.G. Jung

Be of service today. Help another. Call and check in on someone you know. If you can, deliver supplies to a senior this morning.

The biggest thing you do today could be a small act of kindness.

These days his posts are not only inspirational, but also informative. He tells people where to bring flashlights and batteries, where there are seniors who may need help, what shelters accept pets.

I’m following him on twitter now, and at close to midnight on Thursday someone tweeted, “We have had no power since Monday & it’s been freezing with no heat! Please help!?” Minutes later he responded, ““Where are u? Can I bring blankets, etc?”

For real.

He tells us:

When they say you are less

Know you are MORE

When they tell you to crawl
STAND then SOAR

They can’t defeat YOU
Only YOU can beat YOU

So don’t hold back. Let your SPIRIT loose.
Let everyday be a testimony to your highest TRUTH.

I can’t find the above attributed to anyone else, so those may be Mayor Booker’s original words. He quotes Picasso– “Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.”—and reads Langston Hughes’ poetry. I hope you’re not doubting him, but this guy walks the talk too. He’s been a mentor for a long time and he wrote about it in Mens Health.

Did I mention I have a crush on him? Did I mention I just found out he’s single and forty-three? I know I’ve mentioned how smitten I am with Missoula, but can’t you see me in Newark? It isn’t as big of a stretch as it seems; my mother and grandmother live in Queens, just twenty miles away. Of course that twenty-mile trip would right now take hours if it was even a possibility.

Gas stations are out of gas, a few of the subway lines just started running, and if you don’t have somewhere to be you should just stay out of the way. The other day my mother reported that she talked to some people in her neighborhood who were on a bus for three hours trying to get to Manhattan, but who got off because it was futile. People were peeing on the bus, and an older woman tried to pee into a plastic bag.

I’m so glad that my mother and grandmother didn’t lose power or sustain any damage to their property, though other relatives on Long Island did not fare so well. I can’t imagine seeing my belongings floating in my house, and it makes the wicked forest fires of this summer and fall seem like no biggie.

Count your blessings.

These are tough times, and it’s been a challenge to feel joy these past few days. I’ve certainly felt happiness—in a nice walk with a friend, in a deep hug from another—but in the wake of Sandy true joy is out of reach.

I remember how I felt after the December 26, 2005 tsunami in Thailand, the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and Katrina. That’s a short list, but these are the natural disasters I remember feeling deeply. I couldn’t just go on with my everyday piddling when so many were paralyzed.

Somehow it feels wrong. I can sort of enjoy the little things—cooking a meal, cruising into the gas station, turning the heat up to 68 and taking a hot bath—but not without twinges of guilt. But what could I do, from here, to assist the east coasters who’ve been ravaged? Nothing, really. Can I do more for my community? Absolutely. Tomorrow I’m going to donate books and CDs to the Humane Society for their upcoming fundraiser. While I’m there I’ll drop off towels and blankets to keep the animals cozy as the days grow colder. I’ll also be attending their Pizza for Pets fundraiser in a few weeks, but that’s all passive. It’s not enough. I need to be more active and engaged. And I will.

I’m inspired by the selfless and courageous acts up and down the eastern seaboard. Just like hate can breed more hate, love can breed more love.

Here’s “There is a Dream in the Land” by Langston Hughes in its entirety in case you skipped Cory’s video, which I hope you didn’t.

There is a dream in the land
With its back against the wall
By muddled names and strange
Sometimes the dream is called.

There are those who claim
This dream for theirs alone–
A sin for which we know
They must atone.

Unless shared in common
Like sunlight and like air,
The dream will die for lack
Of substance anywhere.

The dream knows no frontier or tongue,
The dream, no class or race.

The dream cannot be kept secure
In any one locked place.

This dream today embattled,
With its back against the wall–
To save the dream for one
It must be saved for all.

Image

I’m not sure where this picture was taken. One source said NYC and another said Hoboken, NJ. That’s not important at all; what’s important is the way that people are extending kindness and generosity to each other.

Best Friends: Failure and Success

I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed. –Michael Jordan

What’s up with wanting something for nothing? What’s up with thinking that the hardest things in life should be easy? I continue to be amazed at how many people search “running a half marathon without training.” I Googled it too, and ran the thing—without training—but still.

I’m thinking about how so many of the things that are worthwhile in life require hard work, dedication, and an unwillingness to give up. I think about my friends who’ve started businesses, raised families, and pursued their dreams, sometimes all at the same time. I think about myself, writing a draft of my memoir and now a book proposal wondering: will anybody even care?

I set a deadline for myself a few weeks ago and became several versions of crazy in my attempts to reach it. And then I was stopped in my tracks: I caught a nasty cold. I fought through it for a couple of days, but it fought back just as hard. The message was clear: slow down, sister, you’re out of control.

So I did. I took two days off from work. I pouted, whined, and stared at the ceiling. I didn’t write much, and it nearly killed me. Then, after five days of strugglefest 2012 I went to the doctor. And I got better.

Today was my first day feeling mostly well and not having to work, so I got after my proposal with gusto. I’m almost done, but not quite, and it will be a few more days before I send it off to prospective agents. I didn’t really reach my deadline, but I didn’t really fail either. Perhaps I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. Perhaps.

Yesterday I went out for a short run after a week of being grounded. I needed something to help me along, so I told the TED I iPhone app that I had twenty minutes and wanted to be inspired. It introduced me Brené Brown’s talk “The Power of Vulnerability.”

She set out to study shame for a year, but continued for six. She talks about our willingness to move forward even where there are no guarantees. She talks about investment in relationships that may or may not work out. She says it takes courage to be imperfect, and that shame is really a fear of disconnection, that there might be something about you that doesn’t allow you to connect with others. Nobody wants to talk about shame, but the less we talk about it the more we have it.

Brené interviewed people about love and they told her about heartbreak. When she asked about belonging, she was told stories about exclusion. When she asked about connection, people told her about times when they felt disconnected.

This was my favorite line from the talk: “In order for connection to happen we have to allow ourselves to be seen. Really seen.” But don’t take my word for it; join over six million other people and give it a listen. The Power of Vulnerability

We live in an uncertain world, yet we try to make everything certain. There are no guarantees, and seriously, if there were where would the motivation be? Guaranteed success would zap all of the fun out of trying. I know this.

You can Google “running a half marathon without training” dozens of times and you can read just as many opinions, but you won’t know if it’s possible for YOU unless you try.

It was hard this morning to rouse myself out of a Benadryl induced sleep, knowing I wasn’t going to meet today’s deadline, but hoping to make some progress. Then I got what I needed–a smashing pep talk from a friend and a link to this video in an email: An Awesome World

Then another blogger shared Mind Tricks, my last post, and said some really nice things about it. Her blog is pretty terrific, so please check it out!

Here’s one thing I know for sure: I always feel better if I try and fail than if I don’t try at all. How do you feel?