Guest Blogger - Kirsty

Welcome to my guest post! Here are some things about me. I love wide landscapes, and small landscapes, looking closely at flowers, films based on books, and books based on REAL LIFE! I’m most myself when expressed in words, and I’m most scared by blank pages, and silences when only sparks of creativity will do.

My name is Kirsty, and I’m a blogaholic. (Please refer to article 57b, the first piece of evidence: www.kirstyroad.blogspot.com) My addiction began with a foray into Facebook five years ago – doesn’t everyone experiment at University? – and before I knew it, there was MySpace and Bebo, and everything spiralled out of control. Thank goodness Stephen Fry condoned Twitter, because I was tweeting with the dawn chorus. Now don’t judge, don’t judge – all that stuff is in my past. Because I found the word – and the word was Blogger.

NB, our gracious host, sounded the call for guest bloggers (it comes through a giant pink conch shell, and can only be heard by bloggers, bats and Mariah Carey), and here I am to answer it! The brief was as follows: INSPIRE ME.

Frankly, I hear the word inspiration and I think of two things. The first is skimpily-shorted men pounding down West Sands (“Chariots of Fire” was actually filmed in my University town) to the sound of Vangelis, sand spraying and sweat flying, with looks of agony etched on their faces. (I’m not a runner.) The second is inspiration as writers know it – the fodder of our creativity, and the thing that we’re useless without. Inspiration is the ink in our pens – and it’s usually bled straight from our jugular. I’ve written mostly about two things since I first picked up a pen – unrequited love and heartache, and my home country, South Africa, which serves as the most selfish and stubborn of all my long-distance lovers.

A few years ago I wrote a fortnightly column as part of my gig as an editor of the student rag. Finding inspiration for 300 words with no specified topic had me wrenching my own teeth out, just to have something to talk about. But here lies the true beauty of the blog. No, not self-performed dentistry without anaesthesia (actually I made that bit up) – but the joy and wonder to be found in the most ordinary of places – and even more than that, the inspiration to be found in worldwide fellowship.

Sound cheesy? Well, it is, sorry, there’s not much that can be done about that. You might as well give in to it, and start listening to “Something inside so strong”, or “Lean on me”, or other inspiring ditties, because it’s only going to get worse from here. Here it is: what’s inspired me to keep writing about my daily life in the hope that my little trials touch other people, is how much I’ve been touched by the regular, day-to-day ordinariness of the wonderful people I’ve met online. I’ve just joined a book group with Diana and some other lovely gals! J has just begun therapy, and I’m excited to hear about her progress. Paula and I are wading being Scottish single gals together. And yay yay yay NB has a new job! Congrats NB – and it’s been a pleasure hanging out here while you GO GET ‘EM!

Oh, and my hand-on-heart most inspirational moment of my whole life? Walking across the stage at my graduation. Because in the end, the best person to inspire me… is me :)