Recently, the awesome Victoria Smith over at sfgirbybay came up with a wonderful idea to pull together 300 bloggers in her first ever “Blog it Forward” mash-up. The idea is for a few bloggers a day to blog about what inspires them, and then pass the blogging torch to the next few bloggers, until all 300 have shared their inspirations. I’m so excited to be a part of this inspirational blog it forward. I hope you enjoy the things I find most inspirational!

1. Adventure Traveling

about to jump of a bridge in Ecuador

When I travel, more than anything else, I like to seek out adventure! Sure, I like to sit on a beautiful sandy beach as much as the next person, but for me, nothing is more exhilarating than taking on the unknown and pushing myself to do whatever comes my way. Swinging on vines in the jungle, jumping off bridges in the rainforest, joining protests in Argentina, riding a camel through a Nubian village, making friends with the local animals, climbing all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower (no elevators for me), crawling through Pyramids, riding scary amusement park rides after one too many at Oktoberfest, dancing in the streets of Rio… you name it, I’ve done it. I find that nothing is more inspiring than pushing myself to my own limits and then finding my way back. I always come home feeling like I can take on the world!

2. Game Changers

photo via sfgate

The people that create products and technology that fundamentally change the way we interact with the world and live our lives. These people inspire me to push beyond my personal best. Some of my current favorites include Steve Jobs (apple),  Mark Zuckerberg (facebook), Max Levchin (paypal), Evan Williams (twitter), Rob Kalin (etsy), Bill Gates (microsoft), Shigeru Miyamoto (nintendo wii), Jeff Bezos (amazon), Caterina Fake (flickr), and so many more… I could go on forever.

3. Music and Lyrics

photo via gawker

Music has been there for me in the best of times and the worst. It has been such an instrumental (pun completely intended) part of my life. It’s my constant companion, my motivation, my escape, my passion, my everything. Some of my favorite things to read are lyrics. I adore the fanciful and clever use of language to convey stories and everyday emotions. My favorite lyricsts of all time is Robert Smith of The Cure. I have never come across another song writer who is able to conjure up his type of imagery to convey the most basic yet profound of feelings. Often times when I’m listening to lyrics, certain messages will jump out at me in a really significant way. A few years back I was listening to “The Food” by Common. The line “slow motion is better than no motion” has stuck with me ever since. I keep it in mind on a daily basis and find a tremendous amount of comfort and hope in that simple phrase.

4. Cultivators of Style

photo via ashleygtucker.com

For me, there is nothing I admire more than individuals and companies who are able to select and curate in a way that creates a strong brand, a defined sense of style, and a deliberate point of view. I am so inspired by people and companies who thoughtfully pull together products, music, photos, etc. and are able to create a world that the rest of us want to step into. From a retail perspective, I think Anthropologie does this exceptionally well.

photo via viva cinema

On a personal level, Sophia Coppola successfully achieves this through film. Every aspect of her films, from the music, the wardrobe, the saturation of color, to the subject matter she explores are so highly stylized that, once you have entered, you know it’s Sophia’s world. She truly inspires me to be my own cultivator of style.

5. Self Affirming Poster Art

When you work alone most of the time, you find your own ways of coping, keeping yourself in check, focused, motivated, and (most importantly) inspired. I like to cover my office walls with what I call “self affirming poster art.” This “Don’t Give Up” poster by Print Liberation inspires me to keep going everyday. Something about those large red letters and straight forward message really kicks me in the butt. Other words of encouragement on my office walls include “Smile” and “Live What You Love” ( Hijiri K), “Get Your Sh*t Together” (Orange Beautiful), “Mind You Manners” (Roll and Tumble Press), and, of course, “Keep Calm and Carry On” (sfgirlbybay).

6. My Big Brothers

From one I have learned how to love and appreciate art, design, film, writing, and Brit-Pop. From the other I picked up my love of playing sports, a sense of fearlessness and adventure, silly humor, yoga, and rap music. They have helped me become a well rounded person, constantly introduce me to new things, and enthusiastically support everything I do. Even though we live far apart, they’re always just a phone call, email, or iChat conversation away. All of that and, they’re just incredibly fun to be around.

Thank you again for organizing Blog it Forward! This was a lot of fun and I’ve had the best time reading about what inspires other bloggers. I’m passing the blogging torch off to Lana de Lanna so be sure to check out her post!

Tags: blog it forward, lana de lanna

Posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 8:14 am / Category: Stories of a Shopkeeper. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.