Food, Writing, and Rock n' Roll: Got Inspiration?

What do Brandi Carlile, The Secret Sisters, and Kathleen Flinn have in common?

Well, aside from the fact that they are all inordinately talented, they've each inspired my writing in various ways this week.

I took my friend Reb to a Brandi/Secret Sisters concert and practically floated out of the theater afterward. Those voices! That harmony! The lyrics! The sweet humility of the Secret Sisters and Brandi's raw, blush-inducing vulnerability...Amazing. Amazing. Amazing.

Then I went to a cooking demo and book signing by Kathleen Flinn yesterday and practically floated out of the exhibition kitchen, yammering to the hubby the whole way. Yes there was the delicious food, and heaven knows I love me some good food, but there was also the inspiring fact that Kathleen left her corporate job, threw caution to the wind, and went after her dream of becoming a chef and writer...ahem...just like, you know, I left my corporate job, threw caution to the wind, and became a yoga teacher. I'm still working on the writer part.

"The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry," Kathleen's first book about going to Le Cordon Bleu, is one of my top-five favorite books ever. If you haven't read it and you like food or have a dream, go get this book. There is something deeply inspiring about reading about/watching someone really go after their dreams. It's even better when you get to meet them afterward and they turn out to be even nicer and more awesome than you imagined. And, having read her first book, I'd imagined she was pretty freaking awesome.

I came home fired up and ready to write (or, in this case, edit..{sigh} {pound head} {vodka shot}). And that inspiration made me realize that you have to try new things, do new things, get out of your element. Because whether it's a concert or a cooking demo, you never know what will inspire you.

Thoughts? Ideas on inspiration? What inspires you??