Look Around You.

Bismillah.

“The highest human act is to inspire.” – Nipsey Hussle

At a few points over the last few weeks, there times when I felt like I was losing inspiration by the second. Which was a place I’d never been before. Usually when I’m like that, I sit in my thoughts until something clicks. But this time I tried something different. An approach that I’d heard about when I was listening to a podcast i normally tune into. They spoke about sometimes having to draw inspiration from the people around you. And that’s exactly what I began to do. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it’d be. I guess that’s because everyone I’m surrounded by, has something going for themselves. Who couldn’t or wouldn’t want to draw from that? Now, saying it wasn’t difficult doesn’t mean it wasn’t somewhat tricky. I think the tricky part was, figuring when I’d finally left that dead spot. And when I did, those poems flew off of my fingers like hand sanitizer off the shelves in early March! I think in a span of three days I’d written over twenty poems, which honestly didn’t feel like a lot. But I guess I can charge that to being in a pocket and staying in it until it was exhausted. Which is exactly what I did! Stayed in that thing so long my head hurt lol. I’m glad I did though, it felt like I had written some of my best stuff in those moments. I had a chance to play with different rhyme styles and patterns. Which was a challenge but I think I made it work.

First thing I did was observe who and what was around me and what exactly they had going on. And to my surprise it was almost all positive. Some slow starters like myself, that I got to see come into their own and flourish. Even some people that have been doing their thing for a while, that have shown continued elevation in whatever they were pursuing. And like I said before, who couldn’t draw from that? I don’t know too many people that enjoy being left behind. Not saying that in a competitive sense but, I was told that one way to measure growth is to look to your right and to you left. If you don’t like what you see, then it’s time to make some changes. I can honestly say that when I did that, the only thing that I realized that needed to change was me. Something else I noticed during this time was, I wasn’t as hard on myself as I usually am. Which I was low key proud of. Because that’s something I’ve struggled with for the longest and it can certainly become paralyzing. I feel it gave me that room I needed to keep a clear head and observe with couth. Not just force myself to write something just to put it out. I loved everything I posted and I have to admit early on there were times when I didn’t. So to be in this space is amazing to me.

I guess it’s true what they say, inspiration can come from anywhere. From small talk to something you see on the news. I think this is the start of something new, of being better in tuned with what and who’s around me. Being in this space had definitely reassured my belief in being what you attract. Since I’ve changed my way of thinking, as well as my way of being I can surely see the difference. I think inspired, so I’m seeing inspired!

Asalaamu Alaykum.