Hi,
I thought that it would be cool to talk about finding inspiration amid a normal week. Sometimes I feel a lack of motivation or question if I truly have what it takes to go after my passions, but I’ve been reminded this week of why it’s worth it through the inspiration of others. This week I have been fortunate enough to be in an environment of being surrounded by inspiration. From music concerts to career talks I’ve had my fill.
Here are some of the music related inspirations I’ve found in my week. This past Sunday my friend had her junior clarinet recital. I’ve never heard music before where the clarinet is the main instrument, so I was excited to hear something new. It was really cool to show up for my friend and see her in her true environment and enjoy the fruits of her efforts. She had been working and practicing this for months and I was so proud of her to finally come to the end of this journey. I don’t remember the pieces she played, but she played a piece with a piano, another by herself, one with a viola, and one as part of a wind chamber ensemble. It was cool to see the clarinet, and the different types of clarinets she played, in different environments.
This past Tuesday I was able to livestream the Vanderbilt Orchestra’s concert while studying for a chemistry test. They played Tchaikovsky’s passionate final symphony, “Symphony no. 6,” and Paganini’s “Violin Concerto no. 1 in D Major, Op. 6.” I wasn’t even planning on listening to it, but at the last minute a friend reminded me to livestream it, so I did. I had definitely heard the violin concerto before and may have even been part of its performance, so it was cool hearing it again after I haven’t in forever. I think that it helped me study too and I felt good supporting my friends who are in orchestra.
Two of my music mentors, figures in my life, recently performed a piece — the US premier of Danzón #3 for flute, guitar, and orchestra by Arturo Márquez. I was able to get limited access to watch it and I thought that it was really cool to see the people that mentor me put together something so novel. Anthony Spain conducted the orchestra, while Sarah Bassingthwaighte played the flute — both my mentor figures, and Alejandra Reyes Zamorano played guitar.
Here are some of the career related inspirations I’ve found in my week. After livestreaming the orchestra concert the other day, I was able to take a break from studying to check in on the livestream preparations for the Artemis launch. I haven’t been really following along with the whole journey in the making – just having some basic knowledge of what is going on. It was still really cool to hear the excitement of what was going on because this is an historic event.
The very next day, the timing worked out enough that I was able to attend a talk led by an engineer at NASA, who talked about Artemis. I hadn’t even considered going to the event but realized that I had some free time to use. For me, I think I was more interested in how the engineer got to where he was today rather than the actual work he was doing. He grew up in Paraguay watching planes fly above with the dream to join them and his family moved to the US for better opportunities so that he may one day get the chance to join NASA. He got his bachelors and masters in several different concentrations of engineering while also being involved in the Navy. The interesting thing was that the reason why he stood apart from the other candidates for NASA was the fact that he had a good background in engineering and the fact that he had also been a firefighter. They hired him in the area of fire engineering. He talked about the moral of that was to do what you love and not to go halfway with anything because you never know when your true expertise will be beneficial in the most unlikely places.
In my engineering class that I am taking, two different civil engineers were brought in this week to talk about their careers as managers in construction related jobs and their companies. I don’t see myself having a huge interest in civil engineering or a future there, but I think it was still cool to see people who have gone far and are willing to share that joy with the younger generation.
And of course, we can’t forget about the aviation related inspirations that are a part of my life. One of the youtubers I follow recently uploaded a video about how she revamped old airport runway lights into house lamps. After acquiring them it was a one-day project for her. I think from this I was inspired in the way that I know that I am capable of doing projects like this and then integrating the product into my everyday life. On a different topic, I recently stumbled upon a book recommendation of Eyes Turned Skyward by Alena Dillon. I have only read the excerpt so far, but I really like the writing style of adding in details to history to make the reader want to turn back time to be there, no matter how bad the situation is. I think that this could a real rich place of inspiration for me.
I want to share that this inspiration is all around us if we look hard enough. Some weeks I feel like I don’t see any whatsoever and there are other weeks like this one, full of it. We don’t even need to go above and beyond to seek this inspiration — I was able to livestream the orchestra concert while studying instead of taking 2 hours out of my busy day just for an orchestra concert. I also had to leave my NASA talk quite earlier because I had a prior commitment that I needed to attend. Looking into the book recommendation and reading an online sample of it took me no longer than an hour. I believe that there are small things we can do to find inspiration.
I’ve also realized that maybe I’ve had a lack of motivation because I don’t see that I am necessarily pushed by the people around me and it can be hard to change the environment. But, I think that if you can’t find the inspiration you are looking for, you might as well be it for others.
I hope that you liked this different format of a post, and I hope to give up updates on different parts of my life in the future: music, aviation, and school.
Jovie
