Staying Motivated and Finding Inspiration

 

This week is an illustration or a doodle. Sometimes I will think of the most ridiculous situations when I am bored or just for fun. This time I decided to illustrate one of these thought experiments. Do you like dolphins, jet skis, and saving people? I am 98% sure this post will not make anyone cry (It’s weird that the guy with a terminal disease has some sad stories).

Growing up I had a tough time with procrastination (or right now?). Unless I was right up against a deadline, I couldn’t motivate myself to get work done. Part of it might have been due to not having the technology I needed or even knowing it existed. Helpful voice software like what I use to write my post did not exist until my senior year in high school. No one told me the tablet I used to draw and originally do schoolwork with existed until my third year in college. Until that point, I had to do most of my work in my head. I think I had some control issues if I couldn’t physically write by myself, I didn’t feel motivated. I had a difficult time trying to dictate to another person. It didn’t feel natural or like it was my voice.

My first piece of advice is to be independent when you can. For people with my level of physical disability, this can be difficult to achieve. Being able to write and draw independently has been a game-changer for me. I don’t know if this is true for everyone, but I have been happiest when I could accomplish something independently. It was brushing my teeth after someone set it up for me or shaving by myself. When you’re able to achieve something independently you get a powerful sense of accomplishment that makes you want to keep going. At least for me, it’s one of the ways I find motivation.

The other way is that creating anything keeps me sane. About four or five years ago I had a particularly bad heartbreak and a few of my dreams died. This sent me to a dark place I won’t go into details because I promised not to make anyone cry this week. The big thing that helped me get through it and process my emotions and thoughts was writing (and time). Even if it’s just for me creating helped me heal and gave me all the motivation I needed. It’s a weird feedback loop when I create, I get motivation but it’s hard to get the motivation to start creating (I hope that makes sense). Now you might be wondering about inspiration.

In this area, I have an unfair advantage. Not only do I have a fatal disease that gives me weird ideas; I have known some truly amazing people that inspire me. Some of them are still in my life and some have drifted away. Even though I might not be close with some of them anymore their lives and the stories I have with them still impact me to this day. I won’t name-drop here because it would be a long list and if you praise the same people repeatedly, they will stop believing you. But if you think you might have inspired me in some way you probably did. In my life, I have experienced suffering, pain, longing, and loss, can’t change that part. I have also experienced friendship, humor, hope, adventure, fun, and purpose. Every impressive story I have heard and every great book I have read have both experiences. 

You see I have more inspiration than I know what to do with. So, with the time I have left, we are going everywhere. One week I will talk about death and suffering and the other there will be a dolphin riding a jet ski. Are you ready for some emotional whiplash? I hope hearing about my thoughts on motivation and inspiration helped you in some way. If you are just here for the dolphin lifeguard that is okay too. Until next time crips and non-crips, I believe in you.