Please welcome my guest blogger, Brother Jon! If you haven’t visited Jon’s site already, then snap to it– you’ll find affable charm, the sort of humor that lights up your eyes, and plenty of inspiration!
This will put BroJO in context for some of you: He has a tendency to write exactly what I need to hear exactly when I need to hear it. His guest post today is no exception. I read about three hundred blog posts looking for… something… and then I found it waiting for me in my email inbox. That’s life, right? I should have looked there first.
I really hope it soothes you, too.
Be sure to send buckets and buckets of rawr-love his way! http://brotherjonspage.com/
You’re the Inspiration
So, leave it to Rara to inspire me to write, by asking me to write about what inspires me. I mean, this is a circle I don’t mind getting myself caught in, amirite? Please forgive me. I’m a little nervous. I don’t think I’ve written in front of this many people before. It’s exciting!
This all started when I left a comment on here talking about being in a blogging rut. Rara suggested that I write something for her, so, here I am. I asked for a prompt and she promptly sent me a few to choose from. My favorite was Give us five sources of inspiration. When I started compiling the list in my head things started to fall into different groups. There are so many things; I’ll have to list five groups, with a few instances to go along.
Without further ado, here are five sources for inspiration.
Can’t keep the little man down.
I really enjoy underdogs. True, real underdogs, you know, the really nice, down to earth, will do anything for you type-a-people that just doesn’t have it go their way all the time. When they do win, it’s just that much sweeter.
- What kind of world would this be if Rocky didn’t become the champ (in the second movie)?
- What state would our nation be in if the 1980 United States Olympic Hockey team came in second?
- How great is it that we live in a time where Steve Buscemi can go from fireman to movie star, and back to fireman? (During 9/11 he showed up at his old firehouse to help. If that’s not inspiring you can stuff it up your chuffer)
That’s music to my ears, inspiration to my soul.
Music always has the opportunity to be a great pick-me-up. Whether I’m on my way to work in horrible traffic or doing chores around the house, a good song makes everything better; especially when it’s that special song that you were just thinking about. Here are a few that always hit me squarely in the chest.
- Standing Outside the Fire – Garth Brooks. This video pulls on my heart-strings Every. Single. Time. I see it. (I seriously teared up while looking for the video on YouTube.)
- One of my favorites from before my time is Bill Withers. His story in itself is pretty amazing. He pretty much came out of nowhere, wrote and performed some hit songs and then basically said, okay, I guess I did it. See you later. Here is a cover of Lean on Me by Jordan Lamont Landers, who proves that gingers do have soul(s).
- This post’s title is inspired by the Chicago song. Here is a video of David Foster and Peter Cetera performing a few of the great ones. Tell me that full orchestra in the background doesn’t do it for you. And by the way, how many great songs is David Foster behind?
No, I don’t want fries with that.
Food does it for me. I’m talking about real food though. I don’t get to cook that often, it’s hard to when you’re only preparing for one. But, when I do, something special happens. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
This is a cliché, but it can’t be truer, so this means I love myself very, very much. Some of my most favorite things to prepare are…
- Lasagna. Anything that combines meat, cheese, pasta, cheese, tomato sauce and cheese has to be good. I don’t have a set recipe I follow, so it turns out a little different every time. The only thing that stays the same is each one weighs in at about ten pounds. Now all I have to do is learn how to wait for it to cool before cutting it.
- Breakfast Tacos. Chorizo, egg and cheese baby. So simple, yet so satisfying. Around here the breakfast taco is still somewhat of a novelty. Where Rara comes from, though, it’s a way of life. I lived close to San Antonio a few years ago. The breakfast tacos there were amazing, and probably why I ended up at my heaviest at the time.
- Cake! Who doesn’t like cake? Oh, you don’t? Well try this. I was volunteering at the local lodge back home during the bean supper. This event has most of the men cooking the main foods, like the beans, cornbread etc. The wives are asked to bring a dessert. One dessert gets saved back every year, and every year the people you help clean up get to eat it. After trying it I had to make it myself. Note: Caramel and Butterscotch are NOT the same thing. It was okay anyways though.
Call me Ishmael.
If you understand what this title is referring to you are awesome. Everyone else, prepare to be awesome for the rest of your lives. Books! Being a blogger it’s hard to not mention this one. Some books inspire me to be a better person and some inspire me to be a better writer. Being BroJo, I’m going to set aside the obvious answer (scriptures and such) and tell you what books really inspire me.
- Harry Potter. Okay, just give me a second. I grew up a reader, but fell away after graduating high school. In college I was a member of the quiz bowl team. We went on to Nationals one year (In Kansas City. I’m from Missouri, so you can guess how exciting THAT is). During some down time I decided to take in a movie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Because I liked that movie so much I purchased all the Harry Potter books when I returned home. At the time there were three of four out. They inspired me to start reading again.
- Anything from Mitch Albom. Tuesday’s with Morrie, The Five People you Meet in Heaven, For One More Day. Can you believe that this guy is a sports writer? I have two unread books of his on my shelf, The Time Keeper and The First Phone Call from Heaven. I’m looking forward to jumping into these.
- Books written by bloggers. I’ve only had the chance to read one so far. (The Seneca Scourge by Carrie Rubin. So awesome it hurts! http://www.amazon.com/The-Seneca-Scourge-Carrie-Rubin-ebook/dp/B009BJ3BZ2) I’m looking forward to picking up some more and having a read. There’s something about enjoying something from someone you actually know. I think it makes it easier to be inspired. Hopefully there will be an Orange Buffalo in my future.
Brother Jon & Orange Buffalo by Grayson Queen. (Note from Rara: Awww!)
Framily
I completely believe that we are ALL brothers and sisters, but it’s the ones closest to us that give us that little extra push when the need comes about. So many people in my life have inspired me in so many ways; it’s hard to narrow it down to just a few, but I’ll give it a try.
Brother Jon & the Elders
- The first Elders. The first missionaries to start giving me lessons are most excellent dudes. Handsome, smart, funny and highly motivated in whatever they do. All missionaries are cool in my book, but these guys always seemed to go above and beyond.
- Jaycees. I’ve been a member of the Jaycees (Junior Chamber of Commerce) for about five or six years now. I’ve met members from Florida, Texas, Wisconsin and Washington. They have all inspired me to be a better member myself. Not to mention all the State Presidents I’ve become friends with. It’s one thing to be inspired by a verynice stranger, and another for it to come from someone close to you.
- Family. What can I say? I have a brother who has served his country in two tours, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. I have a father who served during Vietnam, and owns a large collection of vinyl (and still listens to them) I have a mother who moved to Kansas on a whim, and she owns about five Christmas trees. My grandfather retired from the Army and from the Police Force. My grandmother finished her Master’s Degree just a few years ago. Papa and Nana raised five kids on a Railroad salary…in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. And a countless number of aunts, uncles and cousins who all make me proud.
Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
– Martin Luther
Now, because I am BroJo I leave you with this.
2) My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3) Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4) But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
~ James 1: 2-4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9BA5e2Of_U
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Now that Jon has reminded us of the inspirations around, visit his blog for more of all this good stuff, including his continued featuring of blogger friends around the web. If I were you, I’d start here:
- http://brotherjonspage.com/2014/01/30/its-time-to-get-up/
- http://brotherjonspage.com/my-conversion-story/
- http://brotherjonspage.com/sainted/
* Since BroJo and I have both been blessed enough to have been illustrated into TJ Lubrano’s AMAZING world, I used an amalgamation of our drawings for the header. That’s bad artist-etiquette, I know, but I’m hoping TJ won’t mind because she’s magical. Give her a visit, too– and bring glitter! http://tjlubrano.com/
