Earlier in the summer I began talking about my thoughts on "inspiration overload," especially as inspiration has, as I see it, began to replace the influence of information.
I was rushing home from work today, thinking about how so often we're actually inspired by what is near us, what see, experience, or at least have some sense of context regarding. I imagine if you live near the Utah area were the mine recently collapsed, that event effects you more than if you live in Australia. Or the thought of starving children in Africa means much more to you if you went on a church trip and saw the starvation and hardships young African children in Ethiopia are experiencing. Or if you know someone who has died of cancer, campaigns and fundraisers to raise funds for cancer research mean more to you.
Proximity and context begin to share what we care about, and I believe as we become over inspired, an image of a starving child I can feed for less than the cost of a cup of coffee a day will only effect me for a moment of sorrow, and probably not long enough to pick up the phone. The power of images become limited. Instead, if I see in person, or have some sort of proximity experience, then it will hit close to home and call me to action.
As I'm having these thoughts I rush out of the grocery store and suddenly hear a loud honking horn, and then a "crunch" sound. There before me, an aisle over I see a young-30 something year old girl has backed up her small SUV into a guy driving a four-door sedan.
In that moment, and as I saw the ladies face I felt so bad for her. It's sad that in a world were forced to buy and pay for expensive car insurance, we can get so bummed out to experience a minor fender bender. No one was hurt, the damage was minimal, but in that moment I (and a few other people around) surely felt the angst over a relatively harmless accident.
I wanted to rush over and write the girl a check for one hundred dollars just to help out with her insurance deductible and rising premiums she'll experience. Oh, I know one hundred dollars could be better served in some other areas, donated to some other causes, but in that moment this was the experience hitting close to home, not the starving child, not the abuse of women in the middle east, not leukemia, or mine workers in Utah.
I didn't write the lady a check, but I wanted to. And even hours later I'm thinking about it.
What causes hit home with you?
Related Tags: inspiration overload, proximity, car accident, context