7th August 2014
Every morning I walk up a steep hill in Manchester called Jutland Street. I mean really steep. The road is maybe only 60-70 yards long but it must gain a good 20 yards in height. We’re talking San Francisco steep here.
It has a YouTube video, for goodness sake
Every morning, almost without fail, there are people doing sprints up and down that hill. Sometimes it is a super-fit guy who looks like he is training for a middleweight boxing match, but most of the time it is average-looking people huffing and puffing their way up that insane cobbled incline. The kind of people that head off to average-looking offices dressed in average-looking suits after they’re finished.
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4th August 2014
A man from Warwickshire, UK has just completed pushing a Brussels sprout up Mt Snowdon (the highest mountain in Wales at 3,560 ft) using his nose, to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-28621775
Whether you choose to take inspiration from this insane feat, or just dismiss it as a ridiculous stunt, is up to you I guess.
For me, the commitment and dedication required is beyond question. The method may be considered dubious, but if he’d just been standing on a street corner shaking a tin, I suspect he wouldn’t have received the same level of national news coverage. Hopefully that coverage will have heped his fundraised efforts somewhat.
You have to suspect that there is a deeply moving and emotional story behind his choice of charity, and when you think of it in those terms, this is an admirable feat.
Well done, you crazy man.
1st August 2014
What are you really afraid of?
Take a step back. Still scary?
OK, take another step back. And another. And another.
Is it in perspective yet?
If we step back far enough, we usually see that the thing we’re scared of really isn’t that bad in the grand scheme of our life (or the universe). If we can maintain a sense of perspective, we can keep our stress levels down. And hey presto, lower stress levels mean we have a better chance of dealing with the problem in a calm rational manner anyway.
You can buy “Fear, Meet Perspective” artwork here…
31st July 2014
Very excited to publish this first instalment of the Inspiring the Inspirers project! Hello Inspiration has been working with abstract artist Ellie Depp to produce a piece of inspirational artwork based on her unique life experience. What would this talented young painter have to say about inspiration?
I was interested to work with Ellie because I wanted to get to the bottom of how inspiration plays a part in the life of an artist. Where does her inspiration come from? Does she have to go looking for it, or does it come and find her? Does she ever get stuck for ideas, or fed up with the creative process?
Her story of the redemptive power of art taught me more about inspiration than I had ever expected.
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26th July 2014
Being comfortable is good, right? Comfortable is nice and easy and safe. You have nothing to worry about and nobody to fight against. Everybody loves to be comfortable.
Comfortable is what we’re all striving for.
Or is it?
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