Inspiration

One definition of the word inspiration is “any stimulus to creative thought or action.” The root word inspire comes from the Latin spirare, which is “to breathe.” That Latin words also gives us the word spirit, the essence of something. Inspiration, then, is that thing that breathes life into our imagination and gives us the ability to bring our thoughts to life, either in our works of art or in our actions for the benefit of ourselves or others.

We can be inspired by just about anything. We read news stories of police officers responding with kindness and generosity when an elderly man calls 911 and says he hasn’t eaten in two days. Such stories often inspire us to perform similar acts of kindness. We may be inspired to write a story with Native American characters after reading a work of non-fiction that studies the role the sea played in the initial interaction between Natives and Europeans on the New England coast. The way a fellow writer treats a prompt could inspire us to attack the story from a different angle. A melody, a painting, even a beautiful plate of food could all provide inspiration to our active imaginations.

But people. People are the most inspiring of all.

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I live in a small apartment building with no laundry room, so I could say I am forced to drag my laundry elsewhere, but it is no hardship for me. I enjoy taking a book and a cup of coffee and sitting in the laundromat to read and watch the comings and goings of others. I don’t often talk to these nameless strangers, but I watch them, and I wonder about their stories.

We all have a story, don’t we? My story involves a debilitating disease, and most people can see this. It is readily apparent in my limp, my cane, and my crumpled hands. But my story also involves the death of my mother when I was young, the difficult assimilation into a new family, and the anxiety and depression that has plagued me for years. Those plot points are less apparent but no less important to my overall story.

So I wonder about these laundry mat dwellers. The young man who works at the nearby Chinese restaurant and comes to check his laundry on his break. The middle aged man who carries his laundry in black trash bags. The old woman who likewise uses trash bags and has a car full of . . . junk? Or perhaps her entire world; I’ve never been able to tell. The Hummer driver who refuses to use a parking spot and blocks the door with her vehicle, making everyone else walk around. The mother with three kids that are running non-stop.

I imagine what their stories might be. But I never ask. I never put my book down long enough to say more than hello, to ask if they’ve lived here long or just moved to the area, to offer to help fold their towels and sheets. To offer a bit of myself.

And that is the essence – the spirit – of the problem. In tapping on the book cover of their lives, I am opening my own. Because every answer to a question requires reciprocation: if I ask how long they’ve lived here, they’ll ask the same. One question leads to another and soon enough, you’re having a conversation. And if, in answer to a question, the mother of three tells me she’s here because her own washer is broken and she’s barely making ends meet and can’t fix it – then I may be required to give even more of myself. One cannot ask without being willing to offer what is needed.

So what’s an introvert to do? Keep her nose in her book and wonder, that’s what.

Update 2019: This is no less true today, but it saddens and shames me.

Last year, I created and finished the New Things Challenge 2015: try one new thing every month. I took cooking lessons and yoga, I joined a writers’ group, and I traveled to new places. As the year progressed, I stopped keeping track of the new things I did, because it became easier and easier to do new things.

This year we have Challenge 2016: Prioritize People. So far I have intentionally focused on people I know and love. I guess the Challenge means the people in the laundry mat, too.

I am inspired to write a series of short stories about the people in the laundry mat. I was going to make up these stories. But perhaps, embodying Challenge 2016, I will talk to them and get the real story. God has inspired us with His Holy Spirit to love others. Part of loving people is knowing people. Everyone has a story, and Every 1 matters. And perhaps giving a bit of myself in order to prioritize people will get a bit easier as I move through 2016.