Beauty in the 'Boring'

I think inspiration can come from any source. Mostly we look for it in things that are seemly complete or wholesome, somewhere or someone that we want to be like in its final ‘perfect’ form. It’s shiny, pretty and abundant. Well this last few months here in Wollongong whilst delving into my yoga teacher training i have also been on another journey. An unintentional one of being inspired and humbled by the opposite of all those things. Inspired by the mundane, the ‘normal’ and for the best part, the people/places that society deem boring.

I have worked in countless offices over the last few years, different towns, countries and industries with every Tom, Dick and Harry you can think of. All for the cause of earning money for the next trip. Whilst the travelling has opened my eyes and mind to a whole new world, equally so has the work imbetween.  When I think back at how often I dreaded this part of the travelling lifestyle it was actually a journey within itself. One that restored my faith in people, in the unsung heros or inspirations of the communities that we all live in.

Recently I have been working in an office with people that I haven’t really ever spent an extended period of time with. People that have only ever worked in that office there whole working lives, in the same town and for the best part don’t own passports. I was guilty at first of exchanging pleasantries and defaulting to keeping myself to myself, saying the hellos and how are you then never really going much further. Until one day a month I sat there and thought, I come into this room for 8 hours a day 5 days a week but know nothing about these people that sit within 10ft of me? Sure I know their names and what they did roughly this weekend but that’s it? All these people have stories, unique lives all unfolding in totally different ways. Why am I not getting to know them? Learning from them? Being inspired or inspiring them?

It got me thinking how many times I have done this, that we have all done this! The person that you buy your coffee off of everyday, that serves you in the supermarket or sits next to you from a different department in the lunch room. How do we know they are not the next Elizabeth Gilbert, Leona Lewis or just a really blady good person of tomorrow? Now im not suggesting that everyone is going to be the next big thing or that indeed they need to be. My point is that there is this whole world of people that we could be connecting with that we don’t. In our age we are so drawn to the ‘inspiring blogs, Instagram or facebook accounts when really the inspiration is on our doorstep, in our faces everyday but are we really embracing it?

Since embarking on this journey, I made a promise to not be irritated by the different ways the people I work with, instead to be patient and embracive of them. To listen and be a little more caring or open toward them. What I have found has been so humbling, inspiring, on occasions moved me to tears and without a shadow of a doubt reminded me yet to again that there is so much beauty in the seemily mundane.

 

Hellsx