Inspiration

What is inspirational, what is inspiration and does it come from within? I went for a hill-walk up Dumyat this morning and got to thinking (as you do) about what is inspiring me just now? What are my motivations right now? Who is inspiring me and why?

For the past year and a half I’ve been going through a real transition period in my life. By that i mean i have been getting out and about and doing things I never thought I would be doing. And quite frankly I love it – fact! So what has inspired me to do this, and does it come from external sources or is it really from deep within?

To be honest I think it’s a little of both of both really. For me i can be inspired by a little quirky smile from the cutest nephew in the whole wide world – Ryan, or it can be an amazing and uplifting piece of music or maybe it’s the amazing stories you hear and photo’s that you see when you go along to a talk by some mountain types. Mostly i think you’ve got to want to be inspired for things to inspire you and at the same time you can then maybe, perhaps, be an inspiration to others around you. That’s the plan anyway.

An advert came on the TV yesterday morning for a concert with the BBC orchestra on the ‘red button’ digital function. It was with Elbow and i like some of their music. I watched it for nearly an hour waiting patiently for my favourite song to come on and well it did not disappoint me. The song is ‘One Day Like This’. It was brought alive by the full orchestra and a plethora of choir singers. Shivers went down my spine. And you know what? I went to the gym and walked up Wallace Monument, which were not in my Saturday plans. That one piece of music inspired me to get out. If you’ve not heard the song, have a wee listen. May not be to everyone’s taste but i love it.

Over the past two years there have been a few moments, amazing vistas, great music, friends and family that have really inspired and motivated me. I’d like to share some with you.

Mark Beaumont. The guy who cycled around the world on his bike, by himself – very brave;

a piece of music in the movie The Insider – it’s called Sacrifice by Lisa/Pieter Gerrard, it’s simply beautiful and reduced me to tears the first few times i heard it;

when Ryan said to me last week ‘Angie going far, far away up big mountains’ after i said we couldn’t see the Ochils from the car on our way home from a wee day out. I could have cried it was so cute and i’m wondering how he even knew about it, maybe his mummy told him. According to him the Ochils are ‘Angie’s hills’;

Some pictures i took on my first outing with the OMC at Roy Bridge – they are pretty stunning and i was so proud of a few I’ve entered them into a few photo competitions; when my breath was literally taken away after reaching the summit of Stob Coire Sgreamhach in Glencoe. I didn’t think you could get altitude sickness at just over 1000m! It was amazing though;

my Dad, for getting on and doing new things since being made redundant after 34 years with the same company – a victim of the credit crunch! He’s cool;

my Mum for being the ever present source of helpfulness, she never stops doing stuff for people and doesn’t realise her skills and qualities make her special;

Julie and Bernie & Family are the ones who made me realise that i should be living my dreams and putting them into practice when they all emigrated to Perth, Western Australia to start a new exciting life. We always have email!;

All the mountain climbing talks I’ve been to in the past few months have been truly awe inspiring (Simon Yates, Kenton Cool, Ian Parnell, Es Tressider, Kev Shields, Olly Metherell). If I had an ice axe and crampons I’d be out there doing it too! Their dedication, hard work and enthusiasm really is infectious. (hint: my next challenge after conquering Everest Base Camp?!);

Mid March 2008 and my trek plans were in their infancy. I started to search the web for any information i could find. That’s when i came across a blog giving an account of the trek i would be doing. I followed it regularly signing up for updates and became enthralled by the journey this person was going on. It was my first port of call in the morning when i arrived at work and i loved reading about places being passed on the way to base camp, stories of actual base camp, stories of heading into the icefall and then the summit story. A truly big inspiration for me was the fact that someone was living a dream and although it may never have turned out as he’d wished it was still a remarkable achievement;

Lance Armstrong – who could fail to be inspired by such a guy! No need for an explanation really;

The movie Once, it’s such a brilliant little movie that not a lot of people have seen. It’s not to everyone’s taste but if like me you have an eclectic taste in music then you can’t help but be inspired by this story of love – for life and music;

Who could forget August 2008 and the Olympic heroes of Team GB. Go on admit you had a tear in your eye when Chris Hoy went for his 3rd Gold, the emotional and excited commentary by Gary Herbert at the men's rowing coxless fours, Ben Ainslie winning his 4th Olympic medal, Tim Brabants (or as my Dad referes to him 'the doctor guy') winning 2 Olympic medals - well done all of Team GB;

There are so many other things that inspire me and motivate me daily. But for th purposes of this list for now I will say finally... myself, me, Angie!! I still can’t believe that in under 6 weeks I will be trekking in Nepal and hopefully will catch a glimpse of actual Mount Everest!! I can’t believe I was brave enough to be featured in an actual magazine (i still haven’t read that story by the way). Those that know me know that this was so outside my normal ‘box’ it’s not even funny.

So if after all that you still need a bit of inspiration/motivation i say get your favourite CD, put it on the CD player in the house/car and turn it up loud!! Just get inspired, and remember, you have to be open to being inspired.

Inspiration comes at the oddest times, usually when you least expect it. When it does come, don’t shrug it off… be inspired!

Jerry Grant Blakeney

Life is good, have a good week
Ange xx