What Is A Place That Inspires You?

This was an optional ‘essay topic’ that my school had us write about last year before I graduated, apart from a few other more mundane topics that you could choose from. Being someone who loves a writing challenge every now and then, (and of course the need to prove to my English teacher that I was capable of writing something that wasn’t a debatable topic like ‘Should Students Be Allowed More Holidays?’ etc.), one of my other best friend, Engku, and I chose to pick the topic stated above.

Looking back at that topic, I started thinking to myself that hey, why not I share what I’ve written with all of you as well?

~~~~~*~

Different places (or objects, but that’s not what we want to talk about right now) do inspire different feelings in everyone, and they can vary greatly. Let’s say, if I talked about Paris, or showed you a picture like this:

That, for example, may inspire artists or writers to draw or write about something related to romance. On the other hand, for some lonely souls, it might as well arouse feelings of sadness, loneliness, or even longing for something that they don’t possess, like companionship.

What about me, then? (Aw c’mon, let me be narcissistic for a bit.) What’s the one place that inspires me the most?

Well, the place that inspires me isn’t a sacred place, or a magical place, or hard to find. In fact, this certain place is so mundane and can be found almost anywhere.

It’s the hospital. Yeah, that place. (For those who are wondering why I visit so many hospitals it’s because I try to accompany my granddad whenever he has his checkups which are like quite a number of times in a year.)

As I’ve said earlier, different places inflict different feelings for everyone and I’m guessing when I mentioned this place, most of you were already reminded about the sickeningly artificial smell of the hospital wards, the frantic rushing around in the waiting room, or even bad memories of when you were last admitted to the hospital.

For me, the hospital is a place of longing, prayer, sadness, regret and even happiness. It is also a place that holds so many big, untold stories behind those walls. Now, about inspiration. Try sitting down in the lobby of a hospital and just observe the surroundings.

Yes, of course, you don’t really notice much apart from the obvious at first, but when you think about whatever events that may be unfolding beyond the lobby, through multiple doors that are scattered all over the place, you’ll see what I mean.

Have you ever thought about the fact that behind every one of those numerous wards and units, holds a different story. Somewhere, a mother could be dying from childbirth, a son could be wiping away a tear before pulling the plug on his father’s life support system, and somebody could just be notified that they’d be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of their life. Yes, these are sad and tragic; and they do indeed inspire me as a writer to write about sadness, and maybe life and death.

If you’re free to walk around, go to the children’s ward.

It’s a place where children patients are admitted, regardless of their situation. Some are short term patients, and some long term, like children with certain disorders or disabilities. Most people would feel sad, and would think that oh no, pity these children who are in here. They have no friends, aren’t allowed to go out and play and live their life…. Well, as a matter of fact, that’s not true at all.

If you enter the ward, you’ll notice that hey, in reality, quite a lot of them are actually happy! They have smiles on their faces, happiness in their voices… it’s like they don’t let their sickness/disease/whatever they have affect who they are as a person. I’ve asked a few of them once, “Why are you happy?” blunt, I know. But mostly, their responses are: “because we’re alive.”

Their expressions and actions show that they are indeed grateful for being alive, and grateful to be given another day to live. There are no such things as strangers in there, because everyone just talks to everyone. They have hope in their eyes and in the way that they explain/express themselves. They have hope of getting better, the hope of going to the playground with their newfound friends when they get better, the hope of seeing their parents being happy and the hope of their families smiling again.

They, in fact, show, and have, more hope than us teenagers or them adults, and frankly, we should be like them. It does inspire me, they inspire me, to be grateful for what I have and appreciate all that life has for me.

The hospital is also a place of unity, and prayer. The walls of the hospital have heard more prayers than any other building, regardless of religion or prayer. Prayers of love, prayers of recovery, and even prayers of longing all come together as one. It’s where everyone is praying for different reasons, but all with the same aim: for someone to recover. Inspiring, isn’t it?

Lastly, the heroes who don't wear capes.

Of course, the doctors and nurses running around the hospital, tending to all their patients inspire me, because they sacrificed so much for the sake of someone else. They have seen and heard so many stories, both tragic and miraculous, and yet are still able to stay strong for the other patients and offer words of reassurance to their teary-eyed family members when needed. The commitment and strength that they have to push through every day is astounding, yet they are still able to move on with a smile on their face, their resolve renewed every time someone gets better. It motivates me, because even with so much on their plate almost every day, they still pick themselves up and push on; which makes me think that if they can do it with the amount of things they have to attend to each day, I can do it too.

So yeah, that’s the place that inspires me. What’s the place that inspires you the most?