Thanks, Mr. Eggers

02Nov09

Waiting for inspiration can make one lazy. There has to be a perpetual motion of writing, learning, DOING if one wants to be inspired. Inspiration comes and it goes, but it’s constant. If we don’t have the words, the chords, the means to turn inspiration into something that can be shared, it just falls away… Some random moment that almost triggered something… But now gone.

I realized that I need to spend more time DOING what I want to create. I need to practice more guitar, I need to write more (whether it’s in a personal journal or in this blog). I want to share my experiences, and I want to connect with the world. I want to be inspired and return the favor.

Autumn always brings me a note of reflection. I begin to reflect more internally; I tend to stay in like a hibernating bear. It’s that time of season for deep inspiration and reflection.

There has been an author who has kept popping up in my life when I least expect it (sometimes I don’t even know I’m watching his screenplays until the credits). His name is Dave Eggers, and I was first introduced to him in Berkeley, CA about 5 years (or more) ago. I had met a random girl on Myspace. She seemed cool and we made each other laugh, so she invited me to her place. Being young, we were pretty open with our passions and didn’t feel silly about having them. I played her my songs, she read me her favorite lines from her favorite books. There was one book I was in awe of the minute she started reading it to me: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.

After our visit, I immediately went to the bookstore and purchased it. I loved it… so much. Mr. Eggers had this writing style that I connected to more so than any other writer. His book kicked my ass.

Since then, I haven’t really kept up with him. I tried to follow his career for a while, but eventually (like most things) life got in the way and that was that. Until this week.

My friends and I decided to check out thr movie Where The Wild Things Are. From the beginning, that movie took me in. I was so mesmerized by the characters… Max, Carrol, KP… They were all unique and dynamic and funny and sad… At the end of the movie, Dave Egger’s name was branded under “Screenplay”. Wow. He’s still got it.

Furthermore, I’ve had this movie from Netflix for over a week. I finally got around to watching it tonight. It’s a movie called Away We Go with John Krasinski (ladies, I’ll hold while you change your pants). Another solid movie… And guess who wrote the screenplay?!? Dave Eggers of course.

This man is on fire, and I need to thank him immensely for the inspiration he’s given me over the past week AND past years for that matter. I just hope that I take this moment and nail it down before it seeps away and becomes just another “Could-have-been-an-amazing-piece-of-art” moment. The time is now. Waiting for inspiration is over. It’s here, and it’s waiting for me…

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