Comments on: Inspired by Obama

By: Irena

Irena — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:22:52 +0000

Hi Rosalyn, this might prove a bit difficult but I’ll give it a try.
1. My Mum – for loving not just her family but other people in the community and working for them
2. Vaclav Havel – the Czech ex-president and playwright / for having the courage to speak up
3. Dagmar Havlova – his wife/ for having the guts to whistle in front of the whole parliament when her husband was slandered
4. Catherine – a friend/ for going into a career in paliative care
5. Uncle Geoff – to be and live the way he wants no matter what anyone thinks (and actually making a difference)
6. My art therapist Emilie Rudolfova/ for being ever so compassionate and yet hard if needed in order to help
7. My friend Radka / who got out of depression and started a brand new healed life
8. My cousin Eva / who was brave enough to say what it was she loves in life and follow her heart
9. My colleague Lenka/ for being brave enough to stand up against our boss and bear the consequences
10. The little 5 year old girl who thought she was going to die when giving blood to save her brother.

I suppose the overriding theme in mine is courage, guts, bravery.

What does that say? Yes, I am scared stiff of making the next step, which is having the guts to leave my job and follow my heart calling.
8.

By: Tina Southgate

Tina Southgate — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:21:07 +0000

So wow, what a wonderful exercise in truly looking at both ‘who’ and ‘what’ you admire. Having a moment to stop and appreciate the people that matter most is precious and something I do not do often enough.

Something I realised for me is that I can only put down people I have actually had a relationship with. Famous presidents, leaders or people who have achieved things don’t offer me nearly as much inspiration and hope as real people that I have walked, talked and related to. I guess it is my need to truly experience something to be inspired.

1. My late Dad – for teaching me about unconditional love and modelling the art of bringing together contentment and simplicity without losing passion
2. Sandra – for showing me and inspiring me as to how having family values and caring for people can be both sexy and mature
3. Jesus – an obvious one really, whatever you believe or whoever you believe in, he was an out and out radical in his day and effects the world and me everyday
4. Amanda – for showing me what true friendship looks like
5. Andrew Watson – for restoring my belief and trust in church leaders
6. Richard Mill – for believing in me, standing strong and teaching me where to always find the calm in a storm
7. Leigh – for showing me that real life heroes do exist, and there are incredibly brave yet gentle men out there
8. Caroline – for taking the time to ‘shine the light’, and show me the way out of a very dark hole
9. Antje – for being who she is and shining so much encouragement and love out consistently, inspiring me to be more like that
10. Rob – for challenging me, stretching me, helping me recapture and expand my vision, and releasing me to be me, whilst being able to feel I’m not the only ‘different’ one out there!

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:03:59 +0000

Molly – I’m humbled by the mention. Here are 10 for me in no particular order…
1. Sabrina Hasham, who’s fierce and funny
2. Ric Leahy, who rings sound and true
3. Don Cudmore who is as nice a person as there is on the planet
4. Marc and Craig Keilberger of Me to We, who are inspiring youth to step up to be ‘the generation we’ve been waiting for’
5. Mayor David Miller, who fights for the right things for Toronto
6. Peter Jackson, who somehow made the Lord of the Rings movies work
7. Suzie Addison-Toor, who founded Addus for developmentally challenged adults to better integrate into their communities
8. Gus and Jane, who are doing such a great job at be the parents of Harper, Seamus and Hendrix.
9. My Dad, who stands for integrity
10. People who talk to street people

By: Molly Gordon

Molly Gordon — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:36:08 +0000

I am blown away to be mentioned, Rosalyn, and inspired by the exercise. My 10: 1. Barack Obama. Ditto. 2. Nelson Mandela. For first finding peace and reconciliation inside himself. 3. Michael Bungay Stainier. For being incredibly smart, incredibly funny, and deeply kind. 4. Maggie Haydock. My sister, the kindest person I know. Her sweetness is 100% pure. 5. Cynthia Sears. Advocate for the arts and social justice. 6. Little & Lewis For creating a life and business together - a true work of art. 7. Margarethe Cammermeyer. For being the change she wants to see. 8. Pope John XXIII. For actually giving Christianity a try. 9. My niece, Amy Alice Nilsen, for her amazing mothering and her courage and fortitude while her husband is in Iraq. 10. Unsung poets and artists and all the little people who make beauty whether or not they get the limelight.

By: Corrina Gordon-Barnes

Corrina Gordon-Barnes — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:49:39 +0000

Thanks Rosalyn for your beautiful acknowledgement. Here are my first ten, of many, inspirational people I am grateful for.
Corrina x

1) Barack Obama – a genuine, caring man with integrity and soul. Seems genuinely committed to doing the right thing for people and planet.
2) Caroline Lucas – again, a woman committed to sensible, intelligent, honest evaluation of what our planet needs us to do. The best MP I think this country has.
3) Laura Howard West -a dedicated pioneer, helping people to live juicy, big, joyful lives.
4) Charlie – brave and committed enough to overcome obstacles, internal and external, in order to be of service to the women who need her support
5) Rosanna – already a yoga teacher at age 22, she shows that people can go straight from education in to work they’re passionate about
6) Ruth Rogers – her Body Gossip project is a one-woman mission to tackle the nation’s views on body image
7) Sam – an outstanding teacher who sees the teenagers in her care as precious human beings, worthy of her time and energy
Ellen De Generes – the highest profile out-and-proud gay woman, blazing a trail with gentleness and intelligence
9) Benjamin – who survived and now thrives when there was once only such a tiny glimmer of hope
10) Catie – who radically uprooted her life and as such was able to give me a most incredible gift