Inspiration from unexpected places

Ok, so this is one of the more obvious places one can feel inspired (sitting with your Para-World Champion friend), but just because it lacked mystery and a delightful unveiling made it no less magical for me...and Alex too, of course. We have been lucky enough to be in Christ Church during two amazing events, the Para-World Championships and the World Buskers Festival...yes, two very different, yet no less inspiring events at that.
During the past 8 months or so of travelling around the world, we have come across some interesting and unexpected moments of great awakening...visceral, physical, emotional and spiritual. We have met some amazing people along the way as well that have filled us with great enthusiasm and passion for so much that it has been at times, overwhelming and all consuming. We have explored temples, mosques, churches and synagogues rich in their religious inspiration leaving us with twinges of spiritual gusto. It is always amazing to meet those who have dedicated their lives so fully and completely to a G-d or some entity out there...I respect that. We have also met those who combine their physical and spiritual commitments through intensive yoga practice that they so generously shared with us and those days in Rishikesh and Kerala were filled with endless moments of clarity and a sparkle that we won't soon forget.
There were those that also illuminated that visceral inspiration, as it seeped through their pores and into our bellies...enter our cooking experiences in Jaipur, India and Chaing Mai, Thailand. Those women took something that was so meaningful and beautiful to them and their families and shared hidden family recipes and secret cooking techniques with us all the while dousing our meals with the spice of their personal stories and trials and tribulations, which just made that food all the more savoury.
We also made friends along the way...just normal Joe's and Jane's who invited us into their lives and their homes and shared stories and laughs with us...people that we had only known a few short moments, who then took us into their dens inspiring us with their kindness and personal narratives...stories of family, travel, careers, life changes, cancers, moving across the world, loss...real emotional inspiration there.
And oh the land...the vast land that we have sprawled out upon starting in London to New York onto India then to Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand to Cambodia then to Laos through Australia into New Zealand and soon to South America. From mountains to the ocean to the islands (some made of sand) to volcanoes and rivers to the caves then back to mountains with some hills thrown in for good measure to the desert and the outback then to the sky (we all know which moment I am referring to there) and soon to the glaciers...from cities to towns to fullness and emptiness we have been through it all. We have both been physically inspired and challenged through all of our activities and with all of the terrain we have been blessed to see, feel, touch, taste and experienced. We truly have jumped in it and swan around in it until we could barely keep our heads above water only to keep swimming and paddling around finding new and unexpected moments of personal clarity and passion hidden in each terra like little specks of buried treasure...like our own personalized scavenger hunt.
So, yesterday and today have been no less emotionally inspiring and here we are smack dab in a huge city surrounded by concrete still able to be moved and mused. We began yesterday at the Queen Elizabeth II stadium in the northeast corner of the city to watch the Para-World Championships for the entire day. I don't think we meant to spend the entire day there, but it is hard to explain how bubbly you feel inside watching athletes compete...the buzz in the air with everyone cheering them on and screaming for their country...infectious atmosphere consuming you and everyone around you...and every single athlete competing has some form of disability. I swear I felt choked up throughout most of it watching people with cerebral palsy running the 400m in less time than most the people I know, gazing across the field at athletes with one arm throwing javelins 40m+, turning my head quickly to the west side of the stadium to catch the 200m race ran by those who are considered completely blind while they run attached to their guide by a tiny blue string. I mean, if that isn't inspiring then what is?! We were lucky enough to see our friends who are confined to wheelchairs and have no use of their lower bodies compete in the 400m and win! They will now go on to compete in the Para-Olympics in London in 2012. Such an inspiring day...and to add to that high, I took a Zumba class while Al went for a swim in their facilities...what a treat.
Today was day of gale force tornado like winds, as we endeavoured to complete the Lonely Planet walking tour of the city, which we have come to love. Lonely Planet really does put together a lovely walking tour. We came across the World Buskers Festival, which occurs annually and brings thousands of gifted and a bit crazy street performers to Christ Church to share their talents of love of street theatre with New Zealand and it was another hidden and unexpected moment of inspiration for us. You do have to get over the whole...street performer thing, which might take a while, as some of them were a bit...well...diplomacy Mel...hmmm...well...not what I am interested in watching. How's that? But, just the idea of feeling so passionate about music or comedy or art or mime or some other random skit that I am not sure how to categorize...and making that your whole life's work...travelling around making money from the odd person who walks by and feels moved by your gift...your talent...I know that I have imagined myself living a life where I fed my creative side instead of my practical and logical side, but I was too afraid to take that risk and possibly fail and I think that might be how a lot of people feel. Real life takes over and our passions become more like our hobbies and work becomes the way to survive...where is the fun in that! These people risk it all every single day to feed their passions...sometimes they get those laughs, but other times they get ridiculed, but they don't ever abandon what inspires them on a daily basis. Maybe this is what we will take from our year of travelling the world...taking what inspires us and fills us with passion and endless spirit and transform that into our daily lives instead of just our weekly...or worse hobbies. It is a scary thought to turn the life that so easily takes you from one day to the next...making that money, going to the Sainsburys/HEB, counting down the days until the weekend...literally counting the days of your life away and making each day one that is filled with passion and inspiration.
I am not sure how we are going to modify our London lives to reflect all the inspiration we have been touched with throughout this year so far, but it would be such a shame to slip back into the old way of things upon our return. So few people get this chance to leave it all behind...just walk away from life for 1 whole year and see the world and search thyself and I think there is really only one thing left to do...so as my mother always says..."Feel the Fear and Face it Anyway!"