The Power of Words

Sometimes a matter of a few words can push you and your life in a direction you may have otherwise not seriously considered.  Ideas might come and go while never really taking hold.  Or worse a major purchase made in a snap only to find that purchase soon collecting dust in a corner with other things of similar fate.  Something that lit the wick for me with motorcycling were these words;

Out in the driveway, the red motorcycle sat on it’s centrestand, beaded

with raindrops and gleaming from my careful preparation.  The motor was warming on fast idle, a plume of white vapor jetting out behind,

its steady hum muffled by my earplugs and helmet.

Neil Peart – Ghost Rider 2002

The visions painted in those words hooked me inexplicably.  Really their just words in a book I read but something caught.  In that small paragraph there was something I need to see in my own reality.

Last night my good friend Peter and I met up on a rainy night in downtown Toronto for a few beers, a bit of food and a Rush concert.  Pretty nice way to spend an evening.  Catching up with an old friend and being treated to a solid three-hour show.    I found myself at various points watching Neil do what he does and in some vain bit of insanity I was attempting to thank him telepathically.   “Thanks for inspiring me, thanks for sharing the gift that is motorcycling and thanks for translating that in a way that gave me my own reality on two wheels” 

While I know it’s not only this influence that put me on the Vstrom it is a big part of it.  I’m still struck by the power of words and the way they can steer you if you let them.  Being more open to words and their possibilities can take you to places you may only otherwise dream of.  While life rolls along seemingly faster than my bike can travel I’ll remember this influence and the gifts it brings me.

Learn more about Ghost Rider here