Sunday, September 5, 2010

Inspiration

Coinciding with some good happenings and experiences, I've been getting a lot of super positive and encouraging responses from those of you I encounter in my daily, and not so daily life. So it's safe to say that good things are happening and it's an exciting time. Yet another crossroad of inspiration and direction. Some of the feedback conveyed is almost as descriptive as I can sometimes be in my ramblings. I'm honored by all of your comments. Touched by some. Many, astute with observations. One in particular came out of nowhere and was just so straight up honest, it struck a chord. He came up to me after already roughly 30 minutes of shooting the shit about this and that at work, along with a few other guys around and said to me "by the way, I hate you." What the hell are you talking about was all I could think and was obviously written all over my face as nothing came out of my mouth. He repeats, "I hate you - I hate you, cause you inspire me". Uncomfortable pause, furrowed brows... "I don't read. I don't ever read anything. And I've been reading everything on your blog." Well then. In that case I hate you too, with a big thank you. So inspiration inspires inspiration which in turn responds with inspiration. The "he" who said it, knows who he is. And if he's the true follower and reader that he claims to be, he thus gets his recognition here and will know that what he said stayed behind, with an impact - Good one.

Inspiration comes in many forms. Some of us veer off a path to follow other paths and dabble as such. Some focus on one shtick and stick to it a lifetime. Orit and I talked about inspiration the other night. In a different context, but still the same. She mentioned Theo was my main inspiration. Said it with a hint of sadness possibly realizing or thinking that once upon a time, she was my inspiration. For a long time, she alone was my subject for pictures and words. In a sense, she's right. Not absolutely though. I'm a dabbler of inspirations. I go through intense phases of prolific outputs within one body of work. And then walk away. Sometimes revisiting ideas of past, changing and adapting for the materials at hand and the era in my life and mostly the space I have to produce it. I don't walk away completely from previous themes, as they always seem to linger overhead, providing an umbrella signature of my being. So in my presence, my work and my choices, Orit continues to be the leading force of inspiration that drives me forward. Even with little man being in front of the camera or the subject of a story, it's all inter woven by the dynamic of our creative lives and our greatest creation. Every frame shot, every story written and every piece built is but a fraction of the larger collage of me.

The reason I chose inspiration or rather inspiration chose me as a topic this time is all because of a little monkey. A monkey that jumped out of my knee apparently (I'll explain...). That monkey was my inspiration coming out and the supposed beginning of relief from the pain my knee has been waiting for. Most of you are completely lost by now, so let me explain. Or at least try to. I'm not sure I quite understand, but my inspiration (Orit) tells me to at least be open to it. As some of you may know, I have bad knees. One bad one with a slight meniscus tear, another overcompensates and is heading in the same direction. Fast forward... My sister, Ayelet, healer of babies, mothers and now knees. Actually, all ailments, not just knees. That was just me being a smart-ass. Her life in the spiritual world is in a realm that I may claim to somewhat understand, in concept, but I don't. I'm not a quiet person internally and its difficult for me to step deep enough into the quiet to attain this "understanding." But, past the giggles of perceived kookiness, lay all sorts of possibilities I will never understand. But, I can at the very least respect them. So my sister learned a new technique of healing at one of the intensive seminars she participated in. A new ability to heal through the mind via remote control. She can "get into me and my knee" and do it from where she resides in Israel, all while I'm asleep in my Los Angeles home. What the hell? All I have to do is sleep. I've got nothing to loose. There's a 10 hour difference so our timing is perfect. She just needs an hour to do her magic. Visualize the knee and go to work. My biggest fear before going to sleep is, will she see me naked? It's my sister after all. I woke up the following morning half hoping for a miracle bounce in my step. Unfortunately, I started a three day location job that turned out to be very physical and only managed to aggravate both of my knees. I'm not skeptical about the whole thing yet, though. Still open, and even though I haven't had a chance to speak to her in depth yet, from Ayelet's end, she had quite an experience. No, not seeing me naked. She saw the monkey I spoke of earlier. You may laugh, as did Ayelet and Orit when they spoke on the phone while I was off working. I heard the story from Orit. Ayelet was working on my knee in her focused state of mind, when she saw a monkey come out of my knee. Surprised, she asked the monkey who he was? "I am Gal's inspiration," he said. He was imprisoned within the confines of my knee and was now released. So there you have it. Believe it or not. The funny thing is that little man has had many nicknames over his lifetime, one of the longest running ones, being "monkey." And as Orit has stated, he's my inspiration. My writing began as a result of his surgery and continues to revolve around him with every new topic. Ayelet's healing process is not a one time thing. It will take time. At least 6 more visits into my knee while I sleep. Again, here I ask what do I have to loose?  If it helps in any way and surgery can be avoided, I'm game. In the meantime, I can continue to hope for the best and procrastinate the invasive western medical route as long as I can manage the situation. If my understanding is correct of the whole monkey thing, I need to continue to ride this wave of inspiration flowing through me in all it's avenues. That, with the higher power of the mind will lead to the rebuild of my knee over the course of the treatment. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, enjoy my monkey.