Saturday was not a great day for me. Work was not going well. My personal life was a bit of a mess. Even my go-to, sure-fire way of improving my mood, writing, failed. I sat in a café for over two hours and couldn’t think of a thing to type. I resorted to sulking. Then I felt guilty for sulking. There are people in this world with real problems you idiot! I was caught in the vicious cycle professionally referred to as “a bad day.”

Luckily, Saturday only lasts twenty-four hours, and this particular cycle of hours was coming to a close. I finished my evening performance and with my book in hand raced to the subway. The homestretch. As I searched the train car to find a seat, I noticed someone I worked with in the show had chosen the same car. She noticed me as well and quickly made her way over to my side of the car. In case you couldn’t guess, I was not really in the mood for friendly conversation.

Over the next fifteen minutes however, something very surprising happened. My co-worker began to ask me about the book I was reading. I reluctantly told her it was about goal setting and productivity. This led to more questions about my life, which inevitably led to my passion for writing/blogging. Before I knew it, I was giving her my full on testimony of faith. I thought I should balance out the conversation a bit by asking her about herself, but she really left no gaps for me. Every new thing I said seemed to surprise and intrigue her further.

Another ten minutes later I arrived home and instead of going straight to sleep like I had planned I immediately grabbed my laptop and began furiously writing. I had spent two hours in a café earlier that day staring at a blank cursor and now all of a sudden I couldn’t get to sleep because my mind was sparking so intensely. How does this happen?

It may sound narcissistic, but one of the quickest ways to get inspired is to talk about your passions and share your story with somebody new. Seeing the surprised and excited reactions of others reminds us that what we’re doing, our art, is interesting after all. We grow so accustom to our talents that we sometimes forget what makes us special.

Vitally creative people share their passions liberally with others. Not so people will be impressed, but as a reminder that what we do is not only worthwhile, but it actually has the power to inspire people.