Oedipus

How many times have you thought stubbing your toe will kill you. How about that boyfriend that cheated on you? What if you accidentally killed your father and married you mother (vice versa). Would suicide be an answer? Poison? Drugs? How could you possibly go on with such incest embedded in your life? The sweet smell of roses would turn bitter. Soft velvet would feel prickly and itchy. Oedipus somehow finds inspiration to live even after finding out he has done such horrible things. His inspiration seems to be his children, even though they are also his brothers and sisters. He decides to blind himself so that he will never see what he has done in the light of his new eyes. Yet, he somehow lives on. He leaves his town and the reader has to wonder what could be next for someone so trodden down.

What inspired Oedipus to move on with his life I ask. This story inspires me to not take the things I have for granted. I have a wonderful loving family and a place to live and food to eat. Many people live without at least one of these things that are necessities in my life. I'm greatful for every chirping bird in my backyard and for my beautiful little dog. Oedipus must have had some inspiration in his life or else I do not think he could have survived through such and ordeal. Maybe he was inspired by the thought that his adopted parents loved him as if he was truly their son. Maybe he realized that the things that have happened in his life do not need to change who we are if we don't want them to.

Even though Oedipus accidentally kills his father and marries his mother he still has an amazingly sacrificial heart. He had left his family in order to not fulfill his fate. He took the punishment for what he had done even when he, as king, could have run from his punishment. This story can inspire many people and I hope it does because although tragic, Oedipus is a noble man who went through harsh life circumstances and yet still holds a noble soul.

What influences creation?

What influences creation? I think a part of finding yourself is finding what inspires you. As a teenager in high school I struggle with my identity and who I truly am. I've learned to channel my emotions into poetry and I wonder what influences other writers to create something new. One of the first things I wrote was a short story on a little boy who meets a magician and wishes his world away. He learns that even though he is bullied and will go through struggles the sun always will shine through the clouds and the clouds don't last forever. I often wonder why other authors write. What makes their worlds spin? What's keeping their minds ticking?

One book I've always wondered about is Dracula. How did Bram Stoker come up with the idea of blood-sucking demons? What events in his life created this vision in his mind of defeating the ultimate evil? Bram Stoker's Dracula seems to be the basis for so many great novels today. His vampire created one of the foundations for literature all over the world. I wish I could have met this cunning fellow and have been able to find out what goes through his mind when the day has been spent. 

The song "Kaleidoscope Heart" by Sara Bareilles makes me wonder what color other people's hearts are. Do their hearts beat purple? Grey? Technicolor? What inspires people to come up with something new and unique? What experiences have they gone through that have inspired them? Sara Bareilles ends the song with a hope that "inside is not a heart but a Kaleidoscope". Everything we have gone through has made us beautiful. At first the pieces may look like a mush of brown, but when you look through the kaleidoscope there lies a new beautiful creation of color. 

What inspires you to create?