Who inspires you?

I remember one day when I was at school, the teacher asked each student to stand up in front of the classroom and tell everyone who they were inspired by, and why. When it was my turn, I went to the front and proudly shared that my parents inspired me the most in my life. The whole class suddenly erupted into laughter, and the teacher wearily told me that she was “thinking more along the lines of FAMOUS people, thank you Helen!”

The truth is, that all these years later, my answer remains the same, with a few additions now in later life too. I still don’t ever really feel inspired by any famous people, and yet I still feel incredibly inspired by the amazing people that my parents are, and how lucky I am to have them. I also feel inspired by my sister, my husband, and my close friends.

On a professional level, I feel inspired my cartooning mentors, (admittedly some of them are famous in the cartooning world, so maybe that has thrown my theory out of the water after all) and my membership pals in Rachel Spencer’s ‘Pets Get Visible’ group.

 It's every day “normal” people who inspire me, seeing how they overcome challenges, and watching human beings displaying acts of compassion towards other humans and animals, that inspire me to be more than I am.

Of course, my list of inspirations wouldn’t be complete without mentioning dogs. Sadie’s ability to be bright and happy every morning with a fresh optimistic view that seems to say that “Today is going to be the BEST...DAY…EVER!!!” never fails to inspire me. Secretly, I’m even inspired when Sadie blatantly lies that she’s about to be sick half an hour before my alarm goes off. Who couldn’t be impressed by such cheeky manipulation?!

 So, do famous people inspire you at all? Or maybe I’ve just opened myself up to the internet laughing at me like that class back in school. Not cool, Helen. Not cool…