I am inspired by many things.

I get inspired by watching the sun rise on occasion. Those occasions being when I am not having to get up with the sun, mostly… Those mornings I am more inspired by my coffee than by the sunrise.

But I digress.

Inspiration comes in many forms, and one of my favourites is when it comes from what might be an unexpected source. Over the past number of years, I have been inspired by a man that maybe most people would consider to be a source of comedy, rather than inspiration.

However, I remain inspired, as well as entertained.

The man is Kevin Smith.

You should recognize the name, if you know me. Or if you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time. One might say that I am a fan. I own all the movies (except Red State, and that will come) and I have been a fan of his Evening With series, his books and Smodcasts for as long as they have been around.

I was a late bloomer. I didn’t really know who Silent Bob was until I was well into my thirties. Since then, I have grown older with him. I have been moved to far more than just laughter by the man, and by his sharing of the trials of his life. I have truly been inspired.

Today, I was listening to a Smodcast episode titled, “Hall Rats“. It was recorded at the San Diego Comicon. As is his way, he spent time answering questions from the audience that had gathered not only to see a clip of Red State, but to hear a truly great writer speak.

Kevin Smith is one of the best story-tellers on the planet. He is funny, poignant, relatable, intelligent and raunchy. His stories are great writing come to life. He is one of the few people that I could listen to talk for hours on end, and never grow bored.

Or feel the overwhelming need to punch them in the face.
But that’s just me.

During the course of this Smod, Kevin spoke about many things. But one little bit of wisdom almost knocked the wind out of me.

“Surround yourself with WHY NOT.”

He goes on to explain that a lot of the time, we have people around us that continually reply to every idea that you might have with a “Why?” rather than a “Why not?”.

Interesting thought, isn’t it?

Maybe those flights of fancy wouldn’t seem so flighty if you had someone that was saying, “why not?” rather than an eye-rolling “why?”. I thought about the times in my life where all it would have taken to give me the right push in the right direction would have been for someone to ask me why not – rather than why.

Creativity – another thing that Kevin touched on during this Smod – is something that requires WHY NOT. ‘Why not’ encourages thinking, ‘why not’ frees the mind to open up new avenues of action. ‘Why’ closes doors and shuts down passion.

I’ve decided that I want to be surrounded by WHY NOT.

Seems like a much more friendly environment to be in.

So thank you, Kevin Smith.

Once again you have inspired me, Sir.

Smod-on, Sir.

I, for one, love it when Silent Bob breaks the silence.

PS… I also love the dick and fart jokes.  Just sayin’.