The idea of inspiration seems so aloof from everyday life. It seems to be reserved for any manner of creative activities and when we attempt to draw on it I guess common habit leads us to look outward. Recently I’ve been on a little bit of a learning curve about inspiration so I’ve decided that in the interest of being as honest a writer as I can be, I’ll share it with you.I headed back to university in September after spending the last eight years playing “grown-ups”. Spending so much time being serious, worrying about a career that I hated, about opinions that didn’t matter and chasing the pennies, I realised the truth in a much over used cliché: LIFE IS TOO SHORTIt took for me to reach breaking point one day after the last piece of workplace monkey dung had been slung to realize that for neither love nor money could I go back and drive myself further into the ground. It may not have been a wise move, particularly in today’s financial world, but it was the right one for me. After some tears and more than one glass of wine talking to my parents, I realised the only thing to do was to start from scratch, to go back to the point in my life where I made the wrong decision and begin from there.I discovered the idea of taking inspiration from an inner voice, one that had been buried out of necessity over the years. Sure she was a little battered and bruised from experiences that sent her into hiding, but after some thought I realised she was still there, the relatively innocent and excitable 18 year old me, full of hope and a million plans for the future. She brought me to realize that my one true love had always been the written and spoken word and so here I find myself today, studying what I love and being given the opportunity to share my work with you.This experience has led me to wonder sometimes if we looked at ourselves, our partners and our life choices through our teenage self’s eyes, would we be moved to make a change. Whether we would change our image, go on a date night with our long suffering partners and make out giggling in the back of the cinema, or even go on that long promised scuba trip.So here is the promise I’d like you, dear reader, to make. As 2013 approaches, invite your inner teenager out for a chat and a brew, give them some ground rules – because however much they loved E17 or Billie Piper, our more mature ears have no necessity to bleed listening to that drivel – and take a few lessons on loving until you can’t breathe, dancing in front of the mirror, bending it like Beckham or more simply, reclaiming your dreams and inspirations.
