Tiny Inspirations

Inspiration doesn't have to be a single big event that makes you leap out of your chair, determined to do great deeds to save the world.

It can be a person who helped when they didn't have to, or something that made you laugh when you had a bad day. It can be someone who recieved a Nobel Peace Prize, or someone who gives really good hugs. Inspiration can be a person who never gives up, or a person who offers comfort and encouragement in the face of failure.

Sometimes, it's the little things in life that make the biggest differences.

I've spent most of my working life in the Aged and Disabled Care Industry, and that's led to meeting some truly remarkable people. From a girl with a host of disabilities but reaching her goals on sheer grit and determination, to Eileen and Bernice, who insisted that their care workers had the chance to sit down for five minutes before they started the day's tasks, and if the company didn't like it, that was too bad for them.

One that really stuck out was Kathleen, a cheerful old lady who shared biscuits and hot chocolate after I helped her shower in the mornings. I'm not convinced that she wasn't a retired secret agent, because this woman had stories... My favourite was the time her brother-in-law cheated on her sister, and Kathleen left her sister to change the locks, while she took the brother-in-law's clothing to the construction site down the road, and threw them into the cement mixer.

She then walked home, calm as you please, and had an earful ready for when her soon-to-be-ex-brother-in-law tried to show up with flowers.

Someone that Ride-Or-Die is #LifeGoals.

Other times, it's been simple kindnesses that stuck out to me.

Around 2014, my Facebook account was hacked, and a Scam message sent out that I had been mugged and stranded in the Philippines. The Majority of my friends and acquaintances knew that this was wrong, but I'd stayed Facebook Friends with several classmates from my TAFE nursing course, one of whom had moved here from the Philippines, and still had family there.

She sent me a Private Message, asking where in the Philippines I was stranded, because she had a relatives all over the country that would be able to help me, and she just needed to know which one to call. I messaged back to explain that it was a scam and I was fine, but I was genuinely touched by her willingness to not only reach out to someone she hadn't seen in almost two years, but to get her family involved to help them.

It inspired me to return the favour whenever possible, loaning out my spare room to someone who needed a bed for the night, or for a short-term stay.

Sometimes, Inspiration comes in the form of people raising their voices.

Several of my friends and acquaintances are people of colour, or immigrants, or from different cultures and nationalities. One Tumblr Mutual, who I know only as Mango-Pickle, talks a lot about the changing culture among India's youth. Sivaroobini is a friend from Western Australia, originally from Indonasia, from whom I've learned a lot about Tamil food and culture, and the times and ways in which People of Colour are not discriminated against equally. Taylor is more Australian than she Chinese, having immigrated as a child but looks "Asian enough" to get all the stereotype questions and comments.

I've been the Ally who spoke up, or stepped between, or added my voice. I've also been the person who needed another Ally to do that for me, and been so grateful when they did.

Sometimes, Inspiration is being a listening ear when someone needs to vent, too.

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