Where does it come from?

"All the effort in the world won't matter if you're not inspired."

This quote. This man. I have been endlessly inspired by both. Chuck Palahniuk is the man responsible. He is most famous for his novels including Fight Club and Choke. Palahniuk's novels are mind bending; questioning your beliefs and trying your philosophies.

My inspiration for this blog actually came partly from a conversation I was having with my aunt about this particular author. We were discussing the types of novels my sister (an English major) likes to read and, like myself, my sister said Palahniuk was one of her all-time favorites. My aunt said it is a shame that my sister is so in to contemporary literature and not more "classic works like those of Mark Twain. Not to say that she doesn't appreicate and enjoy the work of Mark Twain, however her taste remains with more contemporary authors. I contemplated this for a while and I found my aunt's statement to be rather regressive. Isn't it quite possible that a future generation will consider Palahniuk a "classic"? It is curious how we fail to see what is right in front of us sometimes. We don't need elitist critics or published history books to tell us who is inspirational and who is not. We make the decision ourselves.

How many times do you hear people say, "Oh yea, Cream, I remember when they played at that shitty bar downtown when I was 17. Too bad I didn't realize they would become so famous." If only they had paid closer attention to the art of the present, the masterpiece just waiting to reach the surface. This performance that most likely served as background music to a night of drinking with friends could have been the performance that changed their life.

So next time someone tries to tell you who to believe, what philosophies to live by, what music to listen to, what novels to read, what clothes to wear, what art to appreciate, what kind of person to be....think about your inspiration; about what inspires you the most. Where does it come from? Next ask youself, Where does it go?

Go. It's time to create.