Living inspired lives

Posted: Saturday, February 16, 2002

   Inspiration: n. 1.a. Stimulation of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity. b. The condition of being so stimulated. 2. An agency, such as a person or work of art, that moves the intellect or emotions or prompts action or invention. 3. Something, such as a sudden creative act, that is inspired. 4. The quality of inspiring or exalting.

The dictionary definition of ''inspiration'' is simple and straightforward. But what ''inspiration'' actually is, well, that's a bit harder to figure.

   As a starting point, here's what ''inspiration'' is, at least according to the American Heritage College Dictionary: It's either ''stimulation of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity,'' or ''an agency, such as a person or work of art, that moves the intellect or emotions or prompts action or intervention,'' or ''divine guidance or influence exerted directly on the mind and soul of a human being.''

   Like a lot of people, Mona Mercardante has a more direct experience of ''inspiration'' than a dictionary definition can offer.

   ''For me personally, it comes from God ... but you have to be open to it; open to the people he puts in your life every day. It's a part of those relationships,'' says Mercardante, program manager and grief counselor at Athens Regional Medical Center's Loran Smith Center for Cancer Support.

   Mercardante says she's inspired every day by the determination of patients with terminal diseases who live their lives with integrity and faith, while battling terrible illness.

   ''I don't think there's life without it,'' she says. ''I think when you feel that feeling (of inspiration) then you know you're in the right place doing the right thing.''

   Pastor Jim Burkett of ChristLife Community Church tackles it this way:

   ''Inspiration is a response to a person's perception of the truth of a situation,'' he says.

   As an example, Burkett talks about some of the people served by the Waddell Street church, which is nestled in a corner just outside downtown Athens.

   ''Some of these people haven't bathed in a while ... and we shake their hands and look them in the eye because, I tell them, everyone is created in the image of God,'' he said.

   ''We're inspired by the truth of that situation to make a difference in other people's lives.''

   Local musician Sara O'Brien looks at the question of what it means to be inspired this way:

   ''Inspiration is a calling to act -- you don't have a choice, you have to do it -- it's what your purpose is,'' she says.

   O'Brien organizes Athens' annual BreastFest, an event scheduled in conjunction with the Twilight Criterium, a spring weekend of bicycle racing that brings thousands of people downtown. She says she was inspired to stage the event as the result of her mother's breast cancer-related death.

   ''What I do has a lot to do with the loss of my mother ... but in a way it's almost like a gift,'' she says. ''It made me realize how precious -- how short but wide -- life really is.''

   For artist Drék Davis, inspiration is the name of a living, breathing entity that calls him to use his mixed media creations to portray social inequity.

   ''I try not to take on anything that doesn't really move me,'' he says. ''I don't really know where it comes from, but I know it's a force that pushes us in a certain direction ... and that most of us don't give proper credence to the things that move us, things that inspire us, like that.''

   For some, however, the concept of inspiration is too tied up in mystical connotations to be a useful explanation of why they are compelled to do what they do.

   Local painter Andy Cherewick prefers the word ''motivation'' to ''inspiration,'' because to him, his work is a purely rational pursuit.

   ''Inspiration implies some sort of outside force, and I guess it can be to people who believe it,'' he says. ''But for me, it's a word on shaky ground, like the word 'luck.' I believe it's more a reaction of avoidance ... people feel inspired because they haven't spent enough time doing what they know they should be doing.''



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