There is a
difference between looking and seeing.And for our purposes, this is what I mean.
Og Mandino,
author of The Greatest Salesman in the
World was one of my writing heroes.Though
he is now gone, I still desire to see as he saw, but I don’t want to look like
he looks.I’m sure you understand the
difference.
I would make a lousy cutout
copy of Og Mandino in the physical flesh.However, if I could see with his insight what this world needs in words
and thoughts, then I would be happy in my calling.
Note this.
You
don’t want to
look like your heroes,
you want to see
like your heroes.
And how does
your hero see?What influences has he or
she had that has given them the unique perspectives that they possess?Ah, that is the thing to ponder.What has caused their vision, their slant on
their field of expertise to be so intense, so acute.
I want to
see what other men and women of greatness see.I don’t want to look like them – no, no.I want to see like them.I
think, perhaps, we should read more biographies and life stories of the greats
to gain a glimpse of their vision; not their eyesight, but their vision.
On May 25,
2011 Oprah Winfrey ended her television show The Oprah Winfrey Show.In
her final words she shared this:
I’ve talked to nearly 30,000 people on this show, and all
30,000 had one thing in common: They all
wanted validation. If I could reach
through this television and sit on your sofa or sit on a stool in your kitchen
right now, I would tell
you that every person you meet shares a common desire.They want to know:
‘Do you see me?Do you hear me?Does what I say matter?
~Oprah
Winfrey
Those words
still move me.They challenge me.They tell me I’m on bead with my
mission.My mission? My mission … to offer hope, encouragement and
inspiration to mankind, one word at a time.
Mother
Teresa said this:
There is
more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.
Oh how true
that is, for I read the notes from my readers and the responses on social media
sites.The hunger for love and
acceptance and appreciation is in epic proportions today.
And what is
our response?How do we show love and
acceptance to others?
I have a few
ideas.
~When
engaged in conversation, I put down the iGadgets and give my full attention to
whomever it is I am speaking.
~I listen
with an empathetic ear.
~I do not
prepare my next comment while the other person is speaking.I give full attention and then respond.
~If I sense
an openness in their spirit for a spiritual word of hope, then I offer that.
Recently I had
a conversation with a thirty-five-year-old single mother of a
ten-year-old.She has been in Seattle
one year, has few friends and her world consists of the Seattle Zoo and a few
other places that appeal to her daughter.
While
conducting our business I heard her sigh no less than five times.After talking about jobs and interests she
asked me what I did for fun outside of banking.I mentioned that I am a writer and she wanted to know about
that.I gave her my writing business
card and she said she would definitely look at my web site.
I told her
about this article and quoted the Oprah quote and told her how I was giving my
life to bring hope to my corner of the world.She brightened and said “You will never know how much I
needed to hear that.”
She was a
woman hungering for esteeming and validating love.She was looking to see if there was someone,
anyone in her vicinity who might validate her life and let her know she
mattered.
Who do you
know that is in need of this kind of validation and recognition?They exist, and you can offer your heart, a
listening ear, and perhaps a few words that might make a difference in the
moment.
And if you
are one seeking validation for yourself, seek out good, wholesome and
inspirational material.If you are
reading this, then I have two other blog sites you should see.
If you are
waiting on inspiration to strike, then good luck with that one.Oh, perhaps it does on occasion ‘strike’, but
most of the time
it comes from hard work. Note this ...
"You do not need to be inspired to get to work."
When I worked
in music publishing, we built two ‘writer’s rooms’ at our company.They were designed for our under-contract
writers as a place to come to and practice their craft, often in pairs.
That was
different from the way I perceived creativity and song writing.I once thought it was nothing but inspiration
on the spot and it didn’t exist otherwise.
Now, let me
be clear – I do believe in instant inspiration, for it has happened to me a few
times.Note I said ‘a few times.”Most of the time, any inspiration I
experience is a fleeting entity, and if I don’t happen to have pen in hand or a
computer handy, that inspiration can fly away, never to return.
Rather, this
is what I’ve found.
Inspiration doesn’t often strike like lightening.Sometimes it creeps in unaware.
Inspiration
comes from doing the hard work, the thinking and mulling.Sometimes I have to do a mind dump when I’m
facing a writing deadline.I have to
empty my mind, and for me that means putting on the screen everything that is
in my mind.I somehow magically know
when this process is finished, and then I can go back and be objective in the
task of finding a nugget of gold in the pile of rubbish I just produced.
Let’s go back
to my original thought –
“Sometimes inspiration
creeps in unaware.”
And when
that happens, slow magic happens.At
times I create a piece that I didn’t start out to create.
I suppose
one critical factor remains – having the ability to recognize that one sneaky
idea that makes all the difference in the world and then act on that idea.
