How do you stay inspired during uninspiring times?

[LizzieMaine]

I accomplish good health and stand tall as it collapses around me. The alternative is collapsing with it. But I am not "doing nothing." I'm actually very active with spreading "the word."

That's pretty much the only thing that *can* be done at this point. Anyone who thinks there'll ever be a sweeping renaissance of Golden Era culture in the world that isn't some kind of smirking ironic parody of it is, to be blunt, a fool. And as far as I know, there isn't anyone here who believes that there will be such a renaissance or is seriously arguing that it's even possible to make it happen. All any of us can do is keep from getting personally soiled by the muck of modern society and find the occasional fellow spirit who shares our views. If we can show just one modern person the value of even one aspect of the Era's culture, then we've accomplished something.

 

[John in Covina]

PrettySquareGal,

Given the state of affairs of our culture I'm not sure that approach is accomplishing much. The creepy stuff - bad manners, ugliness, ever increasing phony news propoganda, bad is really good and good is bad mantra - is more prevalent everyday. Will it all ever collapse on tself? Not in our lifetime I think.

The thing is there where measurable shifts with each decade. In the eighties if I showed you a picture of the bad guy, he was ratty looking, evil looking, either shaven head or long haired greasy type and had tattoos. Basically biker gang drug dealing white trash. By the late nineties the same actor with the same look was now shown bringing Christmas presents to orphans instead of having a series of meth labs and killing his rivals. The idea was all about how we prejudge everyone..... But today if you want to look cool, you have to look bad and not bad but evil. The thing is what people forget is you cannot serve 2 masters and if you look bad you stand a bigger chance of acting bad because it is a rejection of good.

The US has had all sorts of shifts and some have happened rapidly. Often if we are near the zenith of a pendulum swing, it hangs for a moment and then it swings back and the change will be noticable, palpable. i think were are nearing the zenith on several swings. At least I hope so. Tip for investment - put money in laser tattoo removal there is going to be a lot of tattoo regret out there.l

 

[wellofsouls]

I'm new around here, but I think about this a good bit.

As I go into middle age (48) I work hard to NOT become the insufferable curmudgeon my dad is. I try to stay optimistic and cheerful, and not imagine that all the good stuff stops with me. Two things keep me on the straight and narrow: 1) is some reading I did once where several intellectuals decried the decadence of youth and the impending loss of everything good and decent in a wave of modernity. (It was written in ancient Greece. Haha.) and 2). when I got out of the Army, I took the notion that I had better learn blacksmithing quick before it died out. I couldn't find a blacksmith anywhere and thus assumed they were all gone. Little did I know that there were probably as many working blacksmiths in the 1980s as at any time in history, considering population growth. But I was convinced that it was "all over."

So I keep those two cards tucked in my hatband. The vast majority of things that are worth saving will be saved. Don't sweat it.

 

[John in Covina]

A lot of blacksmiths can be found under Wrought Iron Work. Friend of a friend did a lot of gate making in Wrought Iron. Fantastic artistry and symetry.

 

[Feraud]

Looks like blacksmithing is still with us.
http://www.iforgeiron.com/

 

[HudsonHawk]

Personally, I've never lived in uninspiring times. I think one can find inspiration/motivation in just about anything including, and perhaps because of, all of the things people seem to detest about the "modern" era.

 

[Gregg Axley]

I'm new around here, but I think about this a good bit.

As I go into middle age (48) I work hard to NOT become the insufferable curmudgeon my dad is. I try to stay optimistic and cheerful, and not imagine that all the good stuff stops with me. Two things keep me on the straight and narrow: 1) is some reading I did once where several intellectuals decried the decadence of youth and the impending loss of everything good and decent in a wave of modernity. (It was written in ancient Greece. Haha.) and 2). when I got out of the Army, I took the notion that I had better learn blacksmithing quick before it died out. I couldn't find a blacksmith anywhere and thus assumed they were all gone. Little did I know that there were probably as many working blacksmiths in the 1980s as at any time in history, considering population growth. But I was convinced that it was "all over."

So I keep those two cards tucked in my hatband. The vast majority of things that are worth saving will be saved. Don't sweat it.

At one time Dollywood had a couple, because my wife and I saw them when we visited it back in 03. Since it was in the 50's and misting (early April) the blacksmith area was very popular because it was warm.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Personally, I've never lived in uninspiring times. I think one can find inspiration/motivation in just about anything including, and perhaps because of, all of the things people seem to detest about the "modern" era.

Example?

 

[HudsonHawk]

Example?

For example, on a most basic level, hat etiquette. Not to rehash the old hash, but I find a lot of inspiration in maintaining good manners, even if all around me are wallowing in ignorance/narcissism. I'm inspired by technology. I think many of the things we have today are far superior to those produced in the "golden era". For all the sense of entitlement displayed by the millennials, they have a great sense of activism...political and social. I may not agree with them, but it's nice to see someone with a sense of duty and direction to take it. Just a few...

 

[wellofsouls]

Looks like blacksmithing is still with us.
http://www.iforgeiron.com/

My point exactly.

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I need to replenish.

 

[AmateisGal]

Me, too.

Part of my problem is my health. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis a few years ago and I don't think I realized the devastating affect it would have on me.

I will go for two to three weeks at a time feeling fairly good - and then BAM. I get hit with a flare-up and I am literally in bed most of the time, so exhausted I don't want to move, my hands and feet aching. This will sometimes go on for a few weeks, sometimes it will be just a few days. It interferes with work and everything else.

Coming to terms with the fact that this is my new "normal" is very hard. About a month ago, I was walking almost every day, getting yardwork done, doing things I enjoyed. The last two weeks, I've been out from work two and a half days, slept so much I'm sick of sleeping, and feel like a slug, yet I can't do anything but get through it. I know I'm fortunate - there are those with RA and other chronic illnesses that feel like they are in a constant flare.

But it's the cycle of always having to stop and "reset", so to speak, that gets to me.

And the news and the Internet doesn't help right now. So I'm pretty uninspired, too.

Sorry for the mini pity party. I try to stay positive and optimistic most of the time, and count the absolute gaggle of blessings I have in my life. But some days...

Think I'll get off the computer and read a good book for awhile.

 

[jamespowers]

Me, too.

Part of my problem is my health. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis a few years ago and I don't think I realized the devastating affect it would have on me.

I will go for two to three weeks at a time feeling fairly good - and then BAM. I get hit with a flare-up and I am literally in bed most of the time, so exhausted I don't want to move, my hands and feet aching. This will sometimes go on for a few weeks, sometimes it will be just a few days. It interferes with work and everything else.

Coming to terms with the fact that this is my new "normal" is very hard. About a month ago, I was walking almost every day, getting yardwork done, doing things I enjoyed. The last two weeks, I've been out from work two and a half days, slept so much I'm sick of sleeping, and feel like a slug, yet I can't do anything but get through it. I know I'm fortunate - there are those with RA and other chronic illnesses that feel like they are in a constant flare.

But it's the cycle of always having to stop and "reset", so to speak, that gets to me.

And the news and the Internet doesn't help right now. So I'm pretty uninspired, too.

Sorry for the mini pity party. I try to stay positive and optimistic most of the time, and count the absolute gaggle of blessings I have in my life. But some days...

Think I'll get off the computer and read a good book for awhile.

Oh geez! Sorry to hear about that. Get well soon.

 

[AmateisGal]

Oh geez! Sorry to hear about that. Get well soon.

Thanks. That's the thing, though. There's no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, so I'll have to deal with these cycles the rest of my life unless my body decides to heal itself. It's the "I feel great!" for a few weeks, then the "I feel lousy!" for a few weeks that gets old.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Think I'll get off the computer and read a good book for awhile.

Best thing anyone can do, ever.

 

[pawineguy]

Thanks. That's the thing, though. There's no cure for rheumatoid arthritis, so I'll have to deal with these cycles the rest of my life unless my body decides to heal itself. It's the "I feel great!" for a few weeks, then the "I feel lousy!" for a few weeks that gets old.

I feel your pain (literally). I'm on year two of psoriatic arthritis, which is a different mechanism but falls into the auto-immune category with rheumatoid. In the midst of switching from Humira (which worked for a while) to Enbrel. The exhaustion is what caught me off guard, and is a bigger modifier of my life than the pain. Just trying to get used to the cycles, as you said, and keep things as normal as possible. Thought you might like a little company at the pity party.

 

[DesertDan]

Psoriasis and Psoriatic arthritis here.
Keep fighting the good fight.

 

[Redshoes51]

What a great thread... I've not been a member for too long, and am still learning my way around the Lounge.

What keeps me inspired?

I tend to be an up-beat kind of guy... I've had a great deal of life experiences just work against me, yet I tend to be positive about Life and about the Future.... yet it is easy to get down.

Over the past few years (5 or so...) my position at work has been tenable at best. I teach at a small university in the Mississippi Delta... my position has been threatened with elimination... and it always gets close... but I seem to be able to hang on. Well, this last November, I was told that my position is being eliminated. I get to come back one more year under a terminal contract... but I am really opposed to that. I' have received the College of Business Outstanding Professor Award twice in 6 years... as well as the university-wide award once. I am respected by my colleagues, students (present and past) as well as the industry people who hire 'my kids.' I am currently discussing opportunities with a major Mississippi university, so things could improve. It would be especially nice to have a smaller school tell you that you are no longer needed... and then to be hired by a major school.

Another problem that I am dealing with has been my recently being diagnosed with a pulmonary disease that was the cause of my Mother's death. I am not sure that I am going to be able to fully honor my teaching commitments for the next year... so if that comes to be, I would rather be here where I have a great deal of time in... rather than to be at a new school, and not be able to honor my obligation to them. I have a great work ethic...

Anyway... what keeps me inspired...???

I adore the American South West... I have no idea if I had been a cowboy in a previous Life... or maybe a Native American... but I just feel so 'at home' when I am out there. My favorite place to be is Monument Valley... but I want to get out to visit the canyons and such in Utah.

I've also spent a great deal of time studying my family's genealogy... it is so interesting. So SO much to learn... to read...

I also consider myself to be an amateur historian... I LOVE Civil War History... So many talking points... so many topics into which one can spend an unlimited amount of time studying/reading...

But my most favorite... Monument Valley...

I don't consider myself to be 'religious,' but I do think I am very 'Spiritual'... whatever it is I mean by that...

My Spiritual Journey... along with my Love for the mesas and buttes of the South West invigorate me. In some of my most trying times, I've loaded up my truck and just drove to get to where I wanted to be...

Obviously, I created a great love for western style hats... and that has just grown into all kinds of hats... but my favorites are still western influenced...

So, tonight, I'v been pondering a great deal of things... and found this... and I think it was a great way to let some of this out.

Having said what I have, Life is good... I saw a great prayer that someone wrote about the other day... and I think its going to become my mantra...

“Let me not die while I am still alive.”

This makes so much sense to me at this time...

Namasté

~shoes~

 

[nick123]

I've been reading a series of spiritual books, for some self-help. These have been some kind of rough times for numerous reasons (which is why I embarked on reading them.) One of the things is not having much dough to go out and purchase things I'd like to purchase. These books have kept me pretty content, and kind of opening my mind up to the notion that thoughts/good memories/just living in the moment are gifts in themselves and that they can act as a replacement for a tangible item for my dose of satisfaction.
Or to try to not get wrapped up in "wants", but instead focus on "haves". As well as trying to slow down and just take life in...not looking too far into the future. Tonight I watched a family of rats in our lemon tree. Little things like that I would't have cared to pay attention to had I not stopped to pay attention to.

 

[Fading Fast]

Amateisgirl, very sorry to hear that. Hopefully, advances in medicine and your own body will, if not cure, then make it livable.

I have come to believe that health wise, we all have stuff by the time we hit middle age. I have mine (debilitating migraines and a back / neck that "goes out" when it decides it wants to), but as noted, I know few people in middle age who don't have something to deal with.

I am sincerely grateful that mine are not worse, but on any given day, once in awhile, it can get to me, but as we all seem to do, I try to remind myself how fortunate I am and how much worse it could be.

And nothing helps more than a good book that allows me to tune out the world because I am so sucked into the story.