I am currently home and in the office for a stretch after six months of being on the move with projects everywhere from North Carolina to Nepal.

            On a typical office day, I will spend absurd amounts of time sitting and staring into the digital abyss of endless workflow, emails and Internet.  To break it all up and attempt to stay current on major issues, I’ll check out a few different news outlets as I try to enjoy my lunch.

            Unfortunately, most of the time I am deeply saddened by what I read and watch.  We all know there are a lot of bad things happening out there, and that is mostly what gets reported.  Sometimes I can’t even finish my meal because what I see and hear is so horrific.

            Today I was on the verge of subjecting myself to the same brutal routine of finding out just how rough things are when I realized that I was REALLY hungry and that I REALLY wanted to finish my delicious frozen pizza.

            So instead, I did a quick search on the interwebs of places where I get inspiration; places that make me want to do more with myself.

            First stop, Patagonia’s blog, The Cleanest Line.

            My buddy, who I spoke of in my last post (Life IS Short Pt. III), was the main man for The Cleanest Line and ever since our chance encounter and immediate friendship years ago, I have made it a habit to read whatever is new in the Patagonia blogosphere, both for inspiration and to read my friend’s ninja writing skills.

            Since Mike’s passing last month it is obviously a much different experience when I visit the site now, but that won’t keep me from checking in here and there.

            Today’s post from climber Kelly Cordes is all about the value of good storytelling.

            “I love good storytelling.  I don’t care so much about the medium, though the differences intrigue me,” Cordes writes.  “Combine great imagery with great story, and you create incredible art.”

            Well put.

            The great thing is that even though I have never met Kelly, I can hear him saying these words.  I can do so because I remember listening to one of his stories on the Dirtbag Diaries podcast more than a year ago.

            One more storytelling medium.

            This all got me thinking, and when that started, there was no stopping it.  I had to write this post even though I really didn’t have the time.  I do believe that inspiration should never be pent up, so when it shows its upbeat and smiling face, you just have to let it rip!

Good storytelling can really be done in any medium or any combination of mediums.  It’s all up to the creator, and that is where inspiration steps to the plate. 

What inspires us?

What inspires others?

I don’t know about you, but I get inspired by seeing really cool stuff.  That is a very elementary way of putting it, but I think the more we simplify this, the better.

A perfect example is the slideshow of the Alaskan Bike and Packraft trip that Cordes uses to highlight his point.  It is a photo story.  It is simple, and it is the way we have relayed stories through images since the beginning.

Here’s the kicker.

The images are great, but more than anything, I wish I was on that trip.  I have a deep love for Alaska and have had a few of my own packrafting missions up there, but this one would have been amazing.  On top of that, it is the kind of trip that embodies everything I stand for as an adventurer:  using old methods with modern technology, or a modern spin, to create new access.

That trip would not be possible without a packraft or the modifications to regular mountain bikes.  Add them together and you can travel independently from Yakutat to Cordova, Alaska.  That’s amazing!!!

I always laugh when hard-core skiers bash on me for my board-riding background (even though I ski now too), or hard-core snowboarders bash on me for putting Alpine Touring ski boots on my splitboard (a snowboard split down the middle for backcountry touring). 

I laugh because in their unyielding solidarity to their sport, they don’t even know what they are missing.  The same goes for inflatable standup paddleboards or fold up kayaks, etc…  I just want better access to cool stuff, and if that means putting a new spin on an old method, then so be it.  To me that is adventure, and that is why Cameron Lawson’s Bike Packraft photo story is inspirational.

So there you have it, inspirational on two levels.  One, the actual medium in which the story was told and two, the content of the story struck a cord deep enough within me to make me feel sheepishly jealous of the two adventurers on the trip.

Back to storytelling mediums.

Cordes’ other example is a video comprised of still images, video, timelapses, narration, ambient audio and music.  It combines all mediums (that I know of) into one very moving piece that speaks for itself.  Sharing the photographer’s perspective, I feel it speaks for me too.  Check it out, Dark Side of the Lens by Astray Films and Mickey Smith.  If this doesn’t give you goosebumps, nothing will.

All of these mediums are also now spread primarily through the internet.  Sometimes it can all be a bit too much, but if you can manage to slim down your email subscriptions, notifications, Facebook apps and so forth, you can actually just be told about cool stuff that you care about.  A perfect example is that while writing this post, my inbox dinged and I saw my 5-1-1 Weekly Update from the High Fives Foundation.

            If you don’t know who these guys are, check them out.  They are a regular source of inspiration for me, the Tahoe region and the winter sports industry as a whole.  I have been fortunate enough to document some of the GOOD work they do as well as involve them in a personal project that I cannot wait to show.

            The first two headline stories of the update included the release of the video, “Moving Forward,” about snowboarding athlete Danny Toumarkine’s Traumatic Brain Injury and his return to riding, as well as Grant Korgan’s successful PUSH to the South Pole.  Yes, you read that correctly, he pushed his way to the South Pole in a sit ski.  In doing so he became the first adaptive athlete in history to reach the South Pole.  Not only that, but he made it there as planned, on the 100^th anniversary of the first humans to reach the pole.

True inspiration shared through different storytelling mediums.

The point of all of this is that I decided to look for inspiration and within a minute of starting my search, I felt compelled enough to write this post.  And while doing that, more inspiration showed up in my inbox.

It’s out there folks.  It’s everywhere, you just have to decide what you want to experience, and hopefully you also decide to add to the pot.  Just like opportunity begets more opportunity, positivity and inspiration (one in the same to me) create more positive and inspirational energy.

I find inspiration in different storytelling mediums, and specifically when they share really cool stuff, as defined by my interests.  It also helps if I can check it out AND finish my lunch at the same time.

So what inspires you?