 |
| Image Source: FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
The other day I took a short drive to the local library and asked the librarian at the front desk where I could find The Great Gatsby. She asked me who the author was, which puzzled me for a moment; I thought that kind of information was common knowledge for librarians. Anyway, I responded with, "F. Scott Fitzgerald," and she led me to the hardcover version of the classic novel. Within two days I had finished the book. I'm the type of person that prefers movies over books although I do strive to read more, so reading a novel in such a short time is saying something. It says that I was very motivated to read.
The day before this library pick-up I had seen an advertisement for the upcoming Hollywood remake, The Great Gatsby, which will be starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. I clicked on the image, which was laden with gold designs and “Gatsby” in fancy lettering. I then watched the trailer for the film. I was completely enthralled. Seeing the vibrant images of the stylized 1920s, intense emotions on the characters faces, and glimpses of unfolding events made me very interested in not only the movie, but the story. I have read and enjoyed the novel before, a few years ago, but I felt compelled to do it once again. I had to go seek out the novel and read it.
The day before this library pick-up I had seen an advertisement for the upcoming Hollywood remake, The Great Gatsby, which will be starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. I clicked on the image, which was laden with gold designs and “Gatsby” in fancy lettering. I then watched the trailer for the film. I was completely enthralled. Seeing the vibrant images of the stylized 1920s, intense emotions on the characters faces, and glimpses of unfolding events made me very interested in not only the movie, but the story. I have read and enjoyed the novel before, a few years ago, but I felt compelled to do it once again. I had to go seek out the novel and read it.
The powerful and thought
provoking images motivated me by giving me a sense of the end result. I knew the sorts of things the novel included
and the type of experience I would have reading it.
There have been a few other
cases similar to this one, where I was motivated by images. When I first saw images for the theatrical
releases of both The Girl with the Dragon
Tattoo and The Hunger Games I
read the books within the week.
Another recent example
unrelated to reading books (I’ve used a lot of those examples) would be my
gardening venture. I have recently
planted some peanuts to grow my own plants.
I would most likely never have planted the peanuts had I not seen the
images of peanut plants online. Yes I
searched for the images. What can I
say? I love peanut butter! I saw how feasible it is to grow them, and
more importantly saw the resulting peanuts that grow beneath the soil. I was intrigued.
 |
| How long before I can make peanut butter!? |
If you have interest in
something and can gain a sense of how something will be or how it will result then
the motivation to act will follow.
My interest in reading, and in
peanuts (it sounds silly to be interested in peanuts) combined with the imagery
that I encountered and sought out, led me to act.
If you are looking for the
motivation to do something then just look for powerful images or use your imagination to visualize your own ones that will push you to act.
Another example, which is
gaining a lot of popularity, is the social networking site, Pinterest, which
is based on collections of images “pinned” by users; it contains a lot of
motivating forces. Whether you are
interested in getting into shape, decorating your home, starting a garden,
cooking, traveling, dressing nicely, playing sports etc., there are images
throughout the site that can spark motivation to do those things!
Find or create a motivating
image to begin doing something that interests you!
Bam!
No comments:
Post a Comment