Case of the Mondays: Operation Inspiration

• By Johanna Nuding+
• Posted in Italy, Life, Personal Stories, Travel, Uncategorized, Unsolicited Advice
• On June 10, 2013
• 6 Comments.

Some days you just don’t want to get out of bed.  Your bull shit tolerance is running on empty and the creative tank is just out of juice.  The blues can last a day, or a week, or longer if you let them.

There was a time in my life when I saw a therapist once a week for an entire year.  That was a long effing funk, I tell you what!  The feelings of apathy slowly took over every aspect of my life until the only emotions I had left were those icky ones: anger, irritation, loneliness, spite, blah, blah, yuck, yuck.  Eight years later reflecting on that time of my life makes me want to give Past Jo a super-sized hug and tell her everything is going to turn out just the way it’s supposed to.

I now possess a refreshing understanding of life and a self-serving perspective of the people, places, things and events in my daily life. I’m no doctor, but I like to think of depression as our soul’s way of begging to be fed, cradled and nurtured.  Who knows if I’m right, but at least in my scenario depression becomes something less scary and that which I can control.

(I always opt on the side of powerful, personal creation.)

That being said, let’s roll with my idea for a minute, with a clear and open mind, free of judgment.

It doesn’t matter how much you talk about “it”, the only thing that’s going to finally pull you out of the funkiness for good is finding inspiration – that little something to spark your soul and get the wheels of excitement turning again inside of you, shaking up the humdrum-ness that has become your life.  Inspiration truly is all around us, but we have to be ready to discover and acknowledge it.

I’ll give you a recent example from my own life.

I’ve been struggling being so far away from the person I love and feeling anxious for my time in Italy to be over so we can be together.  Crazy, right?  I was wishing away months of my life in one of the most beautiful countries in the world where I’m doing exactly what I’d dreamed of doing for several years.  Those feelings were not serving me. They were clogging up my creativity – I couldn’t write.  They were isolating me – I didn’t talk to or see a single person for three days.  I knew I needed to find SOMETHING to pull me out of the black hole I was being sucked into – so I started looking for it.

Within days I got a tweet from an old business colleague, and one Skype call later I’d agreed to work The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour gig.  (Yes, social media engagement can get you a job.)  After working a 12-hour day in Montpellier, France, I had the worst migraine.  But, I was leaving for Bologna the next day and had yet to see the Beyoncé concert.  So, I sucked it up, ignored the headache and saw her perform for the first time in my life.  Diva pop isn’t really my bag, but Beyoncé is one bad ass bitch.  (Sidenote: She really is bootylicious. Queen Bey makes me proud to be a curvy woman.)  During one of her wardrobe changes, a produced video-diary-type-thing was playing.  In her soliloquy one thing she stated was “Isolation brings revelation.”  That phrase spoke to me, and I can’t tell you what the rest of the video said after that.  “Isolation brings revelation” was ringing in my ears and speaking to my soul.  It gave me goosebumps.  I’d found my inspiration in those three little words.  With the worst headache I can remember having in years pounding the shit out of my head, I smiled anyway and relaxed into the moment.  The teenage girls screamed with excitement as Beyoncé came back out on stage and began belting out some song I didn’t know and shaking her booty like it was on fire.

Isolation brings revelation.  That’s really all it took to reignite my desire to continue on my solo journey.  I have learned so much about myself in this year and I’m back on track embracing the clarity I find in the silence.  I relish the new experiences as they come, and lean on my wonderful friends here in Bologna when I have to make a customer service call to my Italian internet service provider. I appreciate each day for what it brings and make peace with the uncertainty of what comes next.

I still take time everyday to daydream about my next adventure when I return to the States.  I visualize the details of myself living the life of my dreams with the person that I love.  And when those feelings of anxiety start tapping on my shoulder, I remind myself to savor the waiting.  I know that what comes next will be worth the wait so I’m going to let myself enjoy the getting there.

So, what do you think?  Is that something you think you can do?

As much crap that’s floating around in the social media pool, I think there’s equally as much inspiration wading out there hoping we’ll take the bait and click on the blog post, video, website, picture or page.  Soul Pancake’s Kid President…that silly kid inspires me.  TUT.com’s daily notes from the Universe get my mind right every morning.  TED Talks – I can spend hours watching intelligent, articulate people sharing ideas that are changing the world.  I secretly dream of standing on stage giving my own Ted Talk one day.  And my sister’s blog (CrystalNuding.com) brings me comfort and relief.

What is your outlet for daily inspiration?

If you don’t have one, find one stat!   Check out the links above as a starting point.  When you see, watch, read or hear something that resonates with you, acknowledge it.  Think about it.  Talk about it.  Be with the idea for a while and see what begins percolating within you.  Maybe it will be a realization of something you need to change about yourself.  Perhaps it will inspire you to take action – reconnect with an old friend, mend a broken relationship, volunteer in your community, change your career, open your heart, forgive someone and make peace. 

Inspired action is changing our world every day.  I consider it our personal responsibility to take part in the beautiful evolution of humankind.  Things will get better if you follow Michael Jackson’s rule and start with the (wo)man in the mirror.

What are you waiting for?  Get inspired!