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Finding your motivation and inspiration.
Have you ever found that one thing which drives you forward, taking you where you want to go and along that path it opens your eyes to every single beauty in the world? I did.
This column is not about me rubbing in your face that I have found the one thing which motivates and inspires me; it is about helping you find it. Helping you discover that one thing which can influence your life and take you to the places you want to go.
Two weeks ago I decided that I was too cushioned in my environment. Yes, I am a second year Arts student in N.U.I. Galway; this is my opportunity to reek havoc like some of my predecessors, drinking through the nights and stumbling back to the freezing cold apartment at five o’clock in the morning because you forgot to turn on the heat before you left.
Unfortunately, I live at home. So, what I thought I would do is to put the one thing which I vow for in my life and change that. My iPod. I take it everywhere; it is small, pocket size and understandably one of the greatest travel companions I have ever had. So, what I decided to do was put my trusty friend on SHUFFLE. I had complete faith in it; I knew that whatever the song it would choose for me would be the song which will take me places. This song will be my travelling song, like the ancient harpist searching the lonesome roads for welcoming homes, trenching through the bitter cold and frost until he got to where he wanted to be. This song will be my new adventure.
For me, putting my iPod on random allows me to enjoy songs like they’re an individual, a stranger who is away from their usual crowd (the album). Now they are on their own and it is up to them as an individual song, to move you and bewilder you. This is the power of shuffle.
The first song which came to my ears featured in Shrek and the second I heard it I knew it was the one. It was called ‘True Love’s First Kiss’. Even the name will take you and astound you. With its magnificent arrangement and uplifting atmosphere, it takes me exactly to where I want to be, above the clouds, flying, searching for that new adventure, my Fantasia. Songs have an ability to motivate you, push you beyond you expectations, make you feel like you're safe and make you believe that everything is alright. This is the power of song.
Now it’s up to you to find out what can move you, what can take you to that next level. Find the one thing you do every day. Maybe like me, you listen to your iPod before you go to class or work, or it may help you choose what road to take. Do as Robert Frost once said: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood… And I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.” Make the difference in your life, you deserve it. Find what inspires you, let it fill you up and move you.
By: Michael Walsh
