Inspired or Curious?

By Tracy Rex

It’s often said that inspiration comes from the most unlikely places (only for those who relish the strange and unknown, right?); or that if you just ‘wait’ inspiration will strike (ouch!); or that it’s up to us to find things/people/places that inspire us (another thing we need to do every day to live our ‘best’ lives!). Out of habit, I ask myself who, what and where motivates me, and I think my answers vary weekly (if not daily). One thing I do know is that books are my passion and, if you will, my inspiration. Reading, buying, borrowing, sharing, collecting, holding and admiring. Books are fascinating in every way.

To this end, I hanker to always be involved in something ‘bookish’. My dream is to own a bookshop akin to the delight that is ‘The Shop around the Corner’ (if you know, you know), but for now, I am content to immerse myself in the written word in any way I can. While proofreading is the perfect outlet for this obsession (along with the creative writing necessary to promote said proofreading), I sometimes find myself wanting to write for no reason at all. Not to edit, promote, or impart knowledge. Simply to write. All I have to decide is what to write. What makes me curious? What do I love?

I love books. That much has been established. So which books? All of them. Well, at least a lot of them. But it's children's books that capture my heart.

‘When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does.’ (Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail). As Lucy Mangan so aptly asks in her memoir Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading, ‘Do we ever manage again to commit ourselves as wholeheartedly and unselfconsciously as we do to the books we read when young?’ I don’t think we do or can. As adults, sometimes life gets in the way too much. So, devoting ourselves to writing ‘just because’ is gratifying, relaxing, and fun. A way to relax and rekindle the excitement of childhood. So I wrote a poem. For myself. For fun. Not to change the world or to ‘inspire’ anyone. And it made me curious. If I could do it all over again, would I? Yes. I would. Why? Because it was fun, and it might have inspired me a little. So begins a series of poems called Reimagined Treasures. The first instalment in the series is a tribute to Alice in Wonderland, one of my favourite books. Are you curious what book will inspire the next instalment? I’ll let you know when I have visited some unlikely places, been knocked down for no apparent reason, or just waited patiently. Click below to read A Curious Lass.

Inspired or Curious?