If there is one thing I’ve learned in the last few years, it’s that inspiration comes in pieces and it shows up in the most surprising places.
I know now that it’s not that I wasn’t seeing my inspiration. I was just looking in the wrong size package for it, as if the entire answer would show up neatly packed in a brown box at my front door like a complete outfit from the Bloomingdale’s catalog: Blouse, slacks, shoes, purse, coat. When we don’t see our whole next chapter folded neatly before us, it’s like it’s invisible.
Imagine tossing the most fabulous purse simply because it’s not yet part of a whole ensemble! No! You grab it, cherish it and keep the hunt on for other pieces to go with it.
For me, the first piece of information came when I learned that, after 12 years on the job, CNN would not be renewing my contract as a news anchor. “This just in to the Daryn News Network — a new life chapter is on its way.”
Ugh! What was that going to be? I thought I had no idea.
Not too long after that piece of unwanted news, I heard that Yahoo! was featuring a special website with war correspondent Kevin Sites. It was called, “The Hot Zone” with an introduction line that read, “One man, one year, one purpose: Go to every dangerous war zone in the world.”
My jaw dropped. “You can have that?” I wondered. “You can have a website where you just do your favorite kind of reporting?”
Then, simply as a creative exercise, I asked myself: “If I could have my own specialized website, what would it be?”
The answer was simple and immediate. I had been able to do everything at CNN: breaking news, war, the Oscars, sports. But my favorite stories had always been the inspiring ones — the ones that made your heart go “Zing!”
Why not “One Woman, One Year, One Purpose: Go to every inspiring place in the world!”
For the record, I did try to sell my idea to Yahoo! The young executive I presented it to didn’t get it.
My little sister sure did. “Why are you trying to give this idea away?” she said. “Start your own website and create your own content.”
That’s how I found my next chapter. DarynKagan.com has become the web’s one-stop destination for inspiring news.
That led to books, documentaries, radio, and, well, here I am in your newspaper as a columnist!
Those have been some pretty fun pieces to discover and put together. I didn’t see a single one of them the day I felt compelled to check out a website based on war reporting. I discovered the idea for a positive news website while looking at another website based on war. Go figure.
This is happening to you too. Little clues to your inspired life are showing up all the time. Your job is to pay attention.
My advice is to march down to your local office supply store and pick up a pack of small spiral notebooks. One goes in your purse, your car, your desk, the bathroom, your nightstand — anywhere that a tiny idea might show up. When it does, jot it down.
Do not dismiss a single thing that makes you go, “hmmmm.”
You drive by a billboard about pig farming in Iowa. Your logical mind tells you: “I’m not moving to Iowa to raise pigs!”
Ignore the impulse to ignore. You might be checking out pig farming in Iowa for reasons you could never see from here.
And remember — each little “hmmmm” is a gift. It’s a clue on the treasure map to your inspired life.
Celebrate the pieces!
Daryn Kagan is the creator and host of DarynKagan.com, an online community that features a daily Web cast of inspirational stories that show what is possible. The former CNN anchor and news reporter is the author of “What’s Possible! 50 True Stories of People Who Dared To Dream They Could Make a Difference.”
About the Author