Inspiration – Found within you or around you?

Yesterday I met a man randomly by the name of Mitch, as I was at the laundromat. No, this wasn't one of those cheesy “Do you come here often” catch phrases. What struck me was him asking me what I was looking for in the newspaper as I took one out of the street box. I told him I was looking for some inspiration and he said “You don't find that in a newspaper honey, inspiration comes from within.” That struck me as a start to an interesting conversation. I challenged his statement by further saying “But some people don't know how to find it within themselves so they look for it in others so they can tap into their own inspiration.” Intrigued by my response, his first reaction was that I was good with my words. I've always known this, but I've kind of neglected awareness to my talents. We conversed for about half an hour more, and the main message I got from him was “Follow Your Dreams.” He told me his story of starting to follow his dreams by the age of 36 (he is now 47) where he decided one day to take that chance and travel the world as a photographer. He's traveled the world twice (and I mean the whole world, he adamantly mentioned) and has sold roughly 15,000 photographs. OK, maybe more, but it was a few thousand. Being so inspired by this man, out of the blue, is just what I needed at that time. Maybe I didn't need to get that paper. Maybe my whole reason for getting that paper was to get my inspiration from him: A travelling photographer with a sleeper van and his two pitt bulls parked on the side of the road feeding his dogs Science Diet mixed with beef off the sidewalk. After we said our goodbyes, I sat back down in the laundromat's chair, and opened the paper. Seeking inspiration through ads and pictures, I felt indifferent to them. I didn't need to look for inspiration in a newspaper. I had already found it. Now I'm sharing it with you.