What/who inspires you?

I know there are different strokes for different folks but I have been a big fan of Majora Carter for a while now and no matter who I show the below video to (of her speaking at the TED conference) they are inspired… so I am wondering, what/who inspires you in that ‘universal’ senese? Something/someone that regardless of political bent, upbringing, class etc inspires all that they touch?

Enjoy the video below. If you AREN’T inspired, you AIN’T alive

ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalkspla … ora_carter

About Majora Carter
Majora Carter
Executive Director / Founder

Prior to founding SSB, Majora worked as a program director at The Point CDC where among other projects, she spearheaded the development of the Hunts Point Riverside Park, the first waterfront park on the Hunts Point peninsula in over sixty years.
She then wrote a successful proposal for $1.25M in Federal planning funds for the South Bronx Greenway Feasibility Study as a community led plan for a bicycle/pedestrian greenway along the South Bronx waterfront providing open space, waterfront access and opportunities for mixed-use economic development in the South Bronx.
Recent projects include, a green and cool roof demonstration project above the SSB office in the American Bank Note Building, and the B.E.S.T. ecological restoration job training and placement program.

Majora is a life long resident of Hunts Point in the South Bronx, a graduate of PS 48, IS 74, the Bronx High School of Science, Wesleyan University (BA) and New York University (MFA). She is a 2005 MacArthur Fellow, 2002 Open Society Institute Community Fellow.

ssbx.org

Right at this minute? I’d have to say MJB and Wookie.

What inspires me? A sweat-beaded oil-slicked female thigh…gently lit by late afternoon light streaming through gossamer curtains…

Or an ice cold Bintang.

[quote=“Doctor Evil”]What inspires me? A sweat-beaded oil-slicked female thigh…gently lit by late afternoon light streaming through gossamer curtains…

Or an ice cold Bintang.

[/quote]

And the really good things is, neither are mutually exclusive.

HG

The US dollar :lovestruck: :howyoudoin:

I watched the video (liked it bunches,) but no one came to mind when I thought of “who inspires me.” Maybe my mom or something. She does cool stuff.


This chap (Shackelton)managed to get a crew of men out of a frozen mass of sea ice, survive on a tiny island with hardly any supplies, sail a small boat throgh 1000 miles of Antarctic ocean and then walk up and over mountains to summon help. Not one of his crew died. Compare Scott of the Antarctic - a miserable failure who is held up as some sort of romantic icon of bravery.
Wikipedia has the details
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton
He’s my hero: solid, gutsy, reliable and came through on his promise that none of his crew would be lost.

Closer to home and more recent - I have always deeply admired Dr. Samuel Noordhoff because he helped so many people in his life.

Quote: For my 40 years in Taiwan, I feel I’ve gained more than I’ve given, especially I’ve gained the most from the people I have helped…I want to thank God for sending me to Taiwan so I could do a little work to help the people in this country…Noordhoff said that being technically proficient at medicine wasn’t the only skill that made a good physician. “What’s more vital is having a loving and caring heart to assist patients who are going through hardships,” he said…Chen Yu-ray, superintendent of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, said that more than half of Taiwan’s 300 surgeons had directly or indirectly learned from Noordhoff.

There are many other people that are inspirations in Taiwan; Sister Therese and Sister Fidelma of the Good Shepherd Sisters of Taiwan along with the rest of their organization (Sister Marta, Sister Rosalina…) exemplify human kindness. The woman that runs St. Anne’s orphanage (Dutch women Jane?) is someone else that stands out. I’m not sure if she is still there, I met her several years ago.

The group of people helping out the injured Make have my respect as well.

Used to be Oprah got my inspirational jollies going. But after James Frey, nope.

Jesus does it for me.

As a youngster growing up in Oz, Fred Hollows was a bit of a hero for me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hollows

Just read in the news this morning about Alex Zanardi an F1 race car driver who lost both legs 5 years ago in a horrific crash and is now back on the track again in a modified F1 car.

Here’s the crash that took off his legs:
youtube.com/watch?v=2Yde3fqRw6Q

And here he is today:

[quote]’‘To put a guy with no legs, a handicapped athlete, into an F1 car, it’s a good thing,’’ Zanardi told The Associated Press on Thursday after becoming the first double amputee to test drive a Formula One car.

‘‘This is why I’m so proud to be the one who is doing this, because for me I don’t look at it from this point of view, but inevitably there will be a lot of people who will say, ‘Sometimes I play in life, but look at that guy – he’s driving an F1 car.’’’

When Zanardi came to a stop, the smile on his face and look in his eyes said it all – even with his helmet still on.

‘‘I’m really, really happy,’’ Zanardi said. ''I feel like somebody who has been cast away on an island for many years and suddenly he gets joined by a top model.

‘‘It’s a fantastic feeling to see all the faces smiling when I brought it in – that was probably the highlight of the day.’’[/quote]
nytimes.com/aponline/sports/ … r=homepage

Well, at like this minute, it’s Parker Posey (an American actress; in Chris Guest’s Best In Show* she was Meg Swan the JCrew wife who said and I quote “we are so lucky to have been raised amongst catalogs”).

Not sure why, possibly because she’s exactly a week older than a woman I know in real life and looks eerily similar to and who’s …well, who I fancy. :laughing:

That’s it: my version of the upthread Blueface’s oiled-up female thigh. :slight_smile:

Also: I heard a great interview with her on radio the other day. In this interview my first impression of her was that she was using her 40-word English vocabulary (at best) to describe in 500 words what could have been said in 10, but by the end of the interview I had a very different impression of her. A very interesting female, Ms. Posey.

What can I say. I’m sure I’ll come up with somebody more worthy, I’ll check back.

*-Edited: originally and incorrectly ascribed her work to “A Mighty Wind.”

Here’s a true hero. 50 year-old guy dives onto tracks before approaching train to save man’s life. :notworthy:

How many of us would do the same?

[quote]Wesley Autrey, a 50-year-old construction worker and Navy veteran. . . was waiting for the downtown local at 137th Street and Broadway in Manhattan around 12:45 p.m. He was taking his two daughters, Syshe, 4, and Shuqui, 6, home before work.

Nearby, a man collapsed, his body convulsing. Mr. Autrey and two women rushed to help, he said. The man, Cameron Hollopeter, 20, managed to get up, but then stumbled to the platform edge and fell to the tracks, between the two rails.

The headlights of the No. 1 train appeared. “I had to make a split decision,” Mr. Autrey said.

So he made one, and leapt.

Mr. Autrey lay on Mr. Hollopeter, his heart pounding, pressing him down in a space roughly a foot deep. The train’s brakes screeched, but it could not stop in time.

Five cars rolled overhead before the train stopped, the cars passing inches from his head, smudging his blue knit cap with grease. Mr. Autrey heard onlookers’ screams. “We’re O.K. down here,” he yelled, “but I’ve got two daughters up there. Let them know their father’s O.K.” He heard cries of wonder, and applause.

Power was cut, and workers got them out. Mr. Hollopeter, a student at the New York Film Academy, was taken to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center. He had only bumps and bruises, said his grandfather, Jeff Friedman. The police said it appeared that Mr. Hollopeter had suffered a seizure.

Mr. Autrey refused medical help, because, he said, nothing was wrong. He did visit Mr. Hollopeter in the hospital before heading to his night shift. “I don’t feel like I did something spectacular; I just saw someone who needed help,” Mr. Autrey said. “I did what I felt was right.”[/quote]
nytimes.com/2007/01/03/nyreg … ei=5087%0A

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I get inspired by the people who have been dealt a bad hand but remain optimistic.

I see a woman that can barely walk. She pushes a cart of fruit to the market each morning.

I see a mother and a grandpa. They push wheelchairs with preschoolers to school . . . big smiles and a big “Dzao An!”

My life is pretty darned easy by comparison.

I try not to complain much.

z

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darwinawards.com/ I take strength from the fact there are people out there more stupid than irishstu

I take strength from the sure and certain knowledge that I’m less delusional than Funk500. That and my Asian fetish, of course. That’s pretty inspirational.

AWOL,

Just watched the Majora Carter talk. Thanks for the link, she is truly inspiring. Are you familiar with the “Wild at Heart” organization in Taipei? They are working hard here in Taiwan on many of the exact issues that Majora is talking about, and can use all the support they can get.

Check out their website at en.wildatheart.org.tw/

[quote=“AWOL”]I know there are different strokes for different folks but I have been a big fan of Majora Carter for a while now and no matter who I show the below video to (of her speaking at the TED conference) they are inspired… so I am wondering, what/who inspires you in that ‘universal’ senese? Something/someone that regardless of political bent, upbringing, class etc inspires all that they touch?

Enjoy the video below. If you AREN’T inspired, you AIN’T alive

ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalkspla … ora_carter

[/quote]

JD Smith, for his honesty, belief in what he does, ability to keep going even if it requires a shifting of the goal posts, and his genuine compassion for his fellow man.

Maoman, for his ability to succeed in Taiwan as a leader in the foreign community.

Hartzell, for always sticking to his guns and picking the fights that he can win.

Forumosans in general, for helping create a real online community.

Found this thread while seeking inspiration.

For me, it’s not who, but what.
Excellence, generally. Artistry, kindness, and intelligence too, in that order.

Lately, I’ve been on a photography kick, and utata (flickr group) has done it for me, in addition to the works of a few dozen individuals rapidly filling my favorites.

Any other whats to share?

Ok, I’m going to blush at this, but misty mountains, and trees, water and clouds and places with presence. I love looking at the mountain behind my house.

Symmetry, in all its forms.

Stupid hippy.