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I would have to say it is me, myself & I that inspires me to be my most alive self.
As a side note, I would like to say thank you to all the thoughtful folks here, who responded to my post yesterday. Your kind thoughts & love warmed my heart. Your support & loving kindness is most appreciated. Thank you…..🙏🏻♥️
You are loved,
dear PKR . . .♥
My children, my dog and my cat. Even when I feel dead inside, these beings keep my candle burning.
At first,
I thought today’s Question
had no answer,
but out of the blue,
Erike popped into my mind.
About 25 years ago,
when I was working in a residence for developmentally disabled adults,
I met Erike,
a respite worker at the time . . .
something broke open between us
and we had
the most trusting and honest conversation I had had for as long as I could remember.
He inspired and invigorated me . . .
awakened my brain and filled my heart.
Over the years
Erike became a surrogate son,
as he is about my son’s age.
Time,
sometimes years,
go by without contact,
and then we suddenly reconnect,
often by serendipity,
and it is like we have never been apart.
We meet
and spend hours talking,
sharing things that we don’t share in casual relationships.
I told him about my sordid past,
which no one in my life now
really knows about . . .
no reason to tell,
and he with me.
We talk about his mother’s untimely stroke,
and his feelings about that
(she is my age),
telling me the intimate details of his own struggle with it.
We talk about love, relationships,
and growing older,
and about what we are doing here on this planet.
The only thing we don’t agree on
is politics.
Erike is a free spirit . . .
a sort of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of a guy,
but an introvert like myself.
He is an ex-marine,
loves to sail,
wants to save the world’s forests,
enjoys working with less advantaged people
and has a genuine interest in how things work,
brains included.
I don’t know what it is,
but I love him dearly,
and he loves me.
It’s not a love affair
but somehow
we have a natural access to each other’s inner self,
and our conversations
are always on fire.
I always feel enriched,
enlivened,
energized,
and completely exhausted
after we meet.
Wonderful. Just wonderful. Relationships such as yours and Erike’s seem to be rare.
I think so,
dear Joseph . . .
people don’t often understand
if I try and put it into words.
I feel very fortunate to have him in my life. ♥
Well, I’m not feeling too “alive” this morning. Just trying to put one foot in front of the other.
Now, having said that, sometimes it’s the people that aren’t showing up, that inspire me to be more alive. And sometimes, the people showing up with the most aliveness, can make it all seem very unachievable and exhausting and can leave me quite discouraged.
I do know, that the people showing up here on this site, inspire me every day. 🙏
I agree – everyone here is an inspiration 🙂
Me too,
dear Charlie . . . ♥
When I think of this question, the first person who comes to my mind is one of the co-leaders of an improv acting class I took several years ago. She has since moved away, and I have not seen her for years, but I knew her outside of the class as well, and she is one of the most alive people I know. So my first thought is that she is kind of a role-model for me of “aliveness”. But her personality is different from mine, so it’s not quite like I can try to imitate her. I want to be me and not try to be someone else. All the same, I am trying to think of what qualities make her so ALIVE. She is adventurous, and willing to challenge herself and take risks. She has a great deal of self-awareness as well as being very present to others and has keen observation of their verbal and nonverbal communication.. She takes joy in a variety of activities such as creating art, exercise, being out in nature, singing. She doesn’t seem to be afraid of what others think of her. She enjoys being of service and has fostered rescue dogs and served on a Search and Rescue team. She lives according to some of the Improv principles, such as saying “yes, and….” rather than “Yes, but”, or “NO” to many opportunities that come up, so that she is open to life. I think that many of these characteristics of hers are things that I could embrace more as well, in my own way to fit my own personality.
My improv teacher inspires me to be a very alive self too! After taking classes from her for over a year and becoming friends with people in the various classes, some of us formed a troupe (ImprovOly.com). Improv is so completely in the moment–it makes for being very, very alive. And the teacher is now a good friend.
That is great, Barb! I am glad that you have found friendships and aliveness from your Improv class. Improv does indeed make for being very alive.
My therapist comes to mind, she has seen so many parts of me and yet continues to hold so much kindness and compassion. She is always reminding me of my worth, even when I don’t see it. She inspires me with each session and for that, I’m grateful. 🙏🏽🧡
Interacting with the residents in my husband’s assisted living home. They are all lovely people who get few visitors.
I can personally vouch for those lovely people,
dear Linda,
that they love and look forward to your visits. ♥
Thank you, Sparrow.
I think that today’s question is all about the importance of the relationship we have with ourselves and others. I feel most alive when I’m not living in my head and am living from my heart. I find that some people inspire me more than others but they are all my teachers. As I remind myself often, my job is willingness. Life has taught me that it is trustworthy and as Terry Patten says in today’s quote: “Things are far too serious for us to lose our sense of humor!” I try to take things seriously but not take myself too seriously!
I appreciate everyone’s comments about the wording of the question. Maybe most alive really means most aware, most awake, most energized, most in the moment instead of sleepwalking or being on autopilot. People we really engage with without surreptitiously checking our phones to see if there’s a text or something else more “worthy” of our attention. Who are we “on” for more than others?
I’m most awake for those I love, those who challenge my thinking, those who give me something new and interesting to think about or to try doing, those who make me laugh out loud, those who smile and remind me how good it feels to be connected to people and the world around me.
As others have mentioned, I don’t need outside inspiration to show up as my alive self. Life is motion, life has so many facets. My commitment is to feel alive every day. Even if something seduces me into distraction or despair, I notice, I come back … isn’t this, too, life? Even the person to whom I have long responded by feeling dead inside–the ultimate protective measure–well, that provides a contrast that allows me to respect and cherish feeling alive, to define what it is to feel alive, to respect and reject the forces that I conflate with feeling dead. So yeah … feeling alive is motion, it is circles and spirals, it is process.
I think that I inspire myself to show up everyday as my most alive self. Being present and grateful in each day is something that I strive for and take active steps to practice.
I think the times I have been most alive, most alert, and most in tune with myself is when I have those deep connections with others. In my younger years, it was my camp staff and college friends who depended on each other.
In my middle ages, that has been harder to have those type of relationships. And I am just now relearning how to find those connections again. Starting with my yoga and meditation coach, and pastor to guide me, and reaching out to 2 dear friends to see how they respond to a little deeper level of connection. It’s an evolving process I am learning that.
I have my mom. She inspires me with my Vietnamese poetry by helping me come up with new ideas. On the other hand, I’m much more orderly. I believe that opposites attract if and only if through some form of common ground whether it’s a goal or interest. In this case, it’s through interest. My foundation is Western culture, and she’s traditional Vietnamese despite a more modernized twist.
My mom has largely helped me feel comfortable around her and dad’s friends from middle and high school. If not for my mom, I’d struggle in traditional Asian social settings. Again, I have a strong style and already enharritted American soil. Collectivism and hierarchy makes advocacy extra challenging in Asian cultures.
With all that being said, it’s why I’ve continued to be a darkhorse in Navarre, Florida. Just tomorrow, I’ll be home.
I love all of the preceding answers. I take a modicum of umbrage to the question. I perceive it as implying I am not living my best life. In this day and age of comparison syndrome, I chose to avoid “keeping up with the Joneses.” There are loved ones, teachers, and colleagues who inspire aspects of my life, spiritual, and career goals. However, the only one motivating me to do me is me.
I’ve never been in a scenario,
dear Avril,
where there are any Joneses to keep up with. ♥
This made me chuckle out loud. Thank you dear Sparrow.
My most alive self is my everyday self. Me, Patti, in this body that I’m in, doing the things that I do. I don’t think that is dependent on anyone else. Sure, I might get excited to see family members who live in other states, but it doesn’t relate to being “most alive.” It just relates to sharing space, sharing energy, being alive together.
While I am alive in this body, I am just going to keep showing up. Regardless of who 🙂