Inspiration

Today, I gave a speech.

I do this quite frequently, actually, being a member of Toastmasters, where I am expected to give an impromptu speech just about every week and a prepared speech with some regularity. (For those who know, today was my tenth speech, completing my basic manual. Yay me!)

The speech was supposed to be an inspirational speech. So I spoke about seeking, and finding, inspiration.

One question in particular, I thought it was time to attack. Not specifically to answer, though I offered suggestions and innuendo and a variety of hints. Where do you get your ideas? I like an answer I read Stephen King give once: “Wholesale from a warehouse in Ithaca, New York.” But the truth is, the people asking this question don’t actually want an answer, at least not to the question they’re asking.

They don’t care where I get my ideas. They want to know where to find their own.

I spoke for over twelve minutes, so I’m not going to try to encapsulate that here in a single post. But I will say this: the goal of the speech was to inspire people, not to seek, but to find inspiration. The key (different from the key to my imagination, which I keep in my top desk drawer)–the key isn’t in knowing where to look, but in seeing where you are.

You need an explanation and/or elaboration? Maybe I’ll write a new age book about it. What do you think?