To breathe into.

Nathan recently asked me what and/or who inspires me.  I was a little caught off guard.  I don't really think about inspiration or the source of it in my life (besides Jesus, of course) all that frequently unless it's asked of me in some leadership exercise or group activity. It was really interesting to think about because when I thought about the people in my life, even though I care about them and they care about me, it didn't necessarily mean they inspired me.

Thinking about what "inspired" meant and looking at the word itself made me curious to find out its dictionary definition and Latin root (I had taken three years of Latin in high school, so it looked familiar enough for me to think it did have a Latin root).

According to Dictionary.com:

in·spire

 

[in-spahyuhr] verb, in·spired, in·spir·ing.

verb (used with object)
1.  to fill with an animating, quickening, or exalting influence: 
His courage inspired his followers.
2.  to produce or arouse (a feeling, thought, etc.): 
to inspire confidence in others.
3.  to fill or affect with a specified feeling, thought, etc.: 
to inspire a person with distrust.
4.  to influence or impel: 
Competition inspired her to greater efforts.
5.  to animate, as an influence, feeling, thought, or the like, does: 
They were inspired by a belief in a better future.  

And according to Wikipedia (and confirmed by Merriam-Webster dictionary):

The word "inspiration" comes from the Latin noun inspiratio and from the verb inspirare. Inspirare is a compound term resulting from the Latin prefix in (inside, into) and the verb spirare (to breathe). Inspirare meant originally "to blow into", as for example in the sentence of the Roman poet Ovid: "conchae [...] sonanti inspirare iubet"^[2] ("he orders to blow into the resonant [...] shell"). In classic Roman times, inspirare had already come to mean "to breathe deeply" and assumed also the figurative sense of "to instill [something] in the heart or in the mind of someone".

To breathe into.  To influence.  To produce a feeling or thought.  Who and/or what did those things look like in my day-to-day life?

When I think about it, there are certain aspects of people's lives that inspire me in certain areas or situations.  But when it comes to ongoing inspiration, I think of three specific people:

Pam.  I sometimes like to think that Pam's in my head.  As my older sister who has been my best friend since I was born, she's probably had the deepest influence on me.  There are some things I'm very aware are a result of her influence - like the fact that I don't drink soda very much is because of Pam.  Or the fact that I like to read for fun.  And there are other habits, patterns, mannerisms, and core ideals that I have that if you dig deep into my psychological realm you'll find come from her.  She's not just someone whose character and skills I admire, but more often than not I've also wanted to emulate.  Her deep compassion for people and their growth/development, her great talent for hosting and planning events, and her immense self-control and self-discipline when it comes to staying healthy and taking care of her body are just some of categories of things that I like to think she has breathed into my life.  Not saying that they're at the same level of where she is, but that the "voices" in my head that push me and inspire me to learn, grow, and reach further on a daily basis come from her.  I could write a whole blog series on my relationship with Pam, but we'll stop here for now.

Carrie.  Working under Carrie's leadership as a student and a staff worker has inspired a lot of who I am during my young adult developmental years.  She has the ability to understand where I'm coming from while also speaking to where I could be.  She's asked me the hard questions I never thought about, gave me challenges she believed I could accomplish and grow from, and has shaped the way I lead others and the intuition I have been learning to trust a little more.  I sometimes think, "What would Carrie do?" when I'm stuck in vocational situations with students, or even take pages from her book when it comes to ideas.  

Nathan.  To the dreams I used to dream, I say, "That would never happen."  To those same dreams, my husband says, "Why not?"  And to all the ideas that I think would be so cool if they worked, but the small chance of success would probably not be worth the bigger chance of failure, my husband says, "Let's try it."  My husband is not satisfied with good intentions or incremental change.  He likes to quote Revelation 21:1-4 (his favorite verses) a lot, but it's not something he believes is just magically going to happen - it's something he actively works toward in his daily decisions.  He inspires my future because no longer are the hopes of living life to the fullest beyond all possibility - with him, recognizing that the promises and power of God are not empty visions but realities that are just out of reach.  And for someone like me who is all too willing to let dreams die, that's pretty inspiring.