Who Has Inspired You?

Hi Everyone

I'm sure that everybody has had someone somewhere in their lives who has inspired them Well, I really hope you have. Maybe it is someone you know, or maybe a well-known figure who has led an inspirational life.

I wanted to tell you about one of the most inspiring people I have ever known. She was in fact my Singing Teacher for a number of years when my children were growing up.

I first came across her at the Adult Evening Class Centre where I was teaching Beginner's Guitar. She was running a singing class for anyone who wanted to join. She maintained that absolutely everyone could learn to sing if they were shown the right way to do it, even those who may have been told as children that they were "groaners" and were asked not to sing!!

She was a professional singer who had been trained at the Guildhall School of Music in London, and had worked in a professional capacity for a number of years before she settled down in a small Suffolk village and began to teach her art. She must have been at least 65 when I met her, yet not only did she run those classes, but she also gave private tuition, and also travelled up to London every Saturday without fail to give lessons to people in the professional world.

Some of those pupils achieved a considerable amount of fame in both the operatic and the pop world, and on the wall of the music room at her house was a Platinum disc which was given to her by Neneh Cherry, whom you may have heard of, and who was awarded it for selling over a million records of one of her record releases in the 1980s.

I had private lessons with her, and some of the time during those was spent talking. She gave me so much confidence in myself which I had lacked before, and I learnt so very much from her. She was always ready to give help and advice about anything which I needed, but never offered it without first being asked, and I benefitted enormously from that advice. I felt that with her I became much more the kind of person I wanted to be.

She and her husband had the gift of Healing, and achieved amazing results with that, including one young girl who was completely cured from leukaemia when the doctors had given her a very bad prognosis and were no longer treating her. They would never take any fees for healing, as they said that as they were blessed with the gift they just wanted to give it to people who needed it. They also ran free meditation sessions from their home, which many people benefitted from.

She also had the gift of Automatic Writing, and she received the most amazing information about the life and thoughts of a fourteenth century mystic woman, which she later published - that too is an inspirational read! The gift of automatic writing is often scoffed at by those who say that it is not genuine, but I assure you that this was genuine.

When I moved away from that area, my biggest regret was that I would no longer be able to see her, although we did keep in touch, and I managed to see her occasionally when I went back to Suffolk.

Sadly, she died last year at the age of 94, having kept up her teaching for all but her last year, even the visits up to London! My youngest daughter, who also knew her, and I went to her funeral, which had some beautiful music and some wonderful memories, and at the end, by her request, the song "Bring me Sunshine" was played. She continued to inspire right to the end!!

But I was equally inspired by my lovely Father, a very loving and quiet man who all the same had a strong character. He was so open-minded, a trait pretty unusual in his generation, and while he held to his own views he was equally willing to accept and sometimes even embrace the views of others.

From him I learned that no matter what life throws at you, you just never give up. He overcame huge difficulties and eventually became successful, even though that involved having to start again from scratch more than once. He was always supportive and never critical of me, and I owe him so much more than I can ever say.

These two people have both been inspirational and a positive influence in my life, and I can never thank them enough.

So who has been inspirational and a positive influence in your life?

And, if you are still with me, thank you so much for reading this, and have a truly positive and inspirational day my friends:)