All Things Skim

Inspiration. Inspirational. Inspiring. Inspired.

Frankly, I am almost tired of this word. I am already not a fan when people abuse words and bandwagon jump on the next trend (which thanks to the internet, trends come and go every so quickly) but the over-exaggeration of this word has become annoying. I am all for motivating people and urging people to go for their dreams and I love that leaders are encouraging others constantly. But do not trick yourself into believing you are being inspired by every little thing. Its hard to find something/someone that’s truly inspirational anymore, because their’s so much “stuff” out there. 

I love(d) watching dance videos. When I was a college freshman, that was literally what I did on YouTube. The site basically had no other reason for existing for me than to watch dance videos. I was constantly watching some of the same dance videos other and other because there was nothing else to watch and it was the only way I could learn. I read about some dancers criticizing this but being in NC where the dance scene was almost non-existent, it was all I had. I wanted desperately to learn and get better. Don’t get me wrong, I danced a lot outside of just watching. I joined a team and began choreographing for them. I became a leader on my team, so I had push myself to get even better. As the years went by, I was one of the few to watch dance videos even among my dance crew mates. It was something I held special to me because I was passionate about my craft. Even then though when I would favorite nearly every piece I watched, there were rare few that inspired me to get up right at that moment regardless of the time, to dance. But soon, I noticed this shift. It almost saddened me. I was already losing touch with my dancer side, having a bad year on my team, and my graduation coming closer. More and more dance videos were being posted constantly and spreading. Which is good yes, but for me, I felt like the passion was getting lost. Videos were being posted on Facebook again and again. I was getting tired of watching them myself. Dance was so personal to me, that I didn’t want “hype” to cause me to watch something. I missed excitement to urn for something new. With the saturation, came the abuse of “inspiration”. Every video became “inspiring”. Every choreographer “inspired” someone. I’m not you. I’ll explain. I’m not you, so I do not know what is going with you at the moment you watched something. I don’t understand what you felt when you watched something so I can not relate to you on that personal level. But I do know, dance was and still is amazingly personal to me. I still get inspired too. Don’t lose yourself in the hype. Stay motivated yes, but don’t confuse it with inspiration. 

Going for a shoot around Raleigh today! Nice day outside. Got an assist from Cindy. Loving my city.

-Sam