The aim of this version to clarify the point of the text.
Title – Inspiration
We write down our experiences in diaries and books, we tell stories to our children and we may even create poems to express how we feel, yet despite our limitless imagination life somehow has a way of surprising us all. Is it possible to prepare for the many twists and turns life brings, or is it simply better to live in denial that bad things don’t happen, either way however powerful we think our minds are nothing seems be able to prepare us for how cruel life can be.
Mark Twain summed it up well when he wrote: “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities. Truth isn’t”.
Its cliché but so true that we all need a reminder of the realities of life. My lesson started when I stumbled on an abandon community on the edge of the city, and whether its intentional or not, it reminded me to be grateful and inspired me to reflect on life and growing up.
An abandoned place
A lifeless community which once housed hundreds of families
A Poem Entitled
Growing up is never easy
A book entitled
Words From My Youth – A reflective tale of the trails and tribulations of growing up
A reading
Path to inspiration
Artists and writers have always used people, events and places to inspire them into words and for me this place was no different. Inspiration comes in many forms for the poem “If” written by famous poet Rudyard Kipling it took a person to stand up, take responsibility and admit their mistakes for words to make it to paper. The inspiration didn’t stop there as this poem still inspires people today.
Section from “If” by Rudyard Kipling:
While that event may have triggered his inspiration we can assume like most writers Kipling also called upon his own personal experiences when writing about what it took to be a man. Was he questioning his own choices in life or simply trying to help future generations, either way who can blame him as I can only imagine the guilt he felt after hearing his son has died in a war he encouraged him to join.
My inspiration however, came from something as simple as a piece of paper on a wall. It’s funny how our minds are triggered by certain things but no sooner had the thought “I wonder what it says?” had left my mind so many other questions quickly followed.
Why are there so many belongings everywhere? It as if the people had left in a hurry and once cared about possessions have suddenly became meaningless. I cannot imagine what it would take for someone to drop everything and just leave. More importantly how did they feel leaving the place they grew up in and what about the children who lived there could they even comprehend what was going on?
After the dust had settled in my mind my mind told me to put myself in a child’s shoes, what if one day my mum had told me we have to leave our home? The place I played everyday and felt safe in. Contemplating the idea of a mind so young being forced into change combined with my own experiences led me down the path of both anger, pain and a release of frustration a feeling many can relate to I believe. We grow up reading stories of dragons or watching our favourite heroes on television but as we all learn one way or another, we have to grow up eventually. Growing up in a privileged environment has sheltered me from the horrors which happen everyday around the world, so visiting a place like that reminded me and inspired me to consider myself lucky, a lesson we all need.
Quotes and references
Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t. —Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar. – Mark Twain (1835-1910)
If – By Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
Links
Approach research – Jim Goldberg
Assignment 4 – Assessment criteria
Poems inspired by events and places – Research
Clip art used from royality free website
David Leverett 
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