Inspiration

Are there coincidences or do things happen for a reason? I don't think anyone can know for sure but it certainly seems like sometimes we come across exactly what we need at exactly the time when we need it the most.

After getting lunch with a friend in Soho, I had some time to kill before having to head back to the Upper East Side, and since I am rarely in the downtown area these days, I just started wondering around. I found myself on Houston St. near Mulberry, close to the young designer's market so I stopped by. It's rare that I can find something interesting there: most of the clothes are super over-priced and all the jewelery looks the same. As soon as I walked in I came across this perfect black dress that I always imagined and it fit like it was made for me. I pretty much spent my food money for the next 2 weeks on it, but when you fall in love with something then there is nothing you can do.

As I was waiting for the guy who owned the stand, I started talking to his next door neighbor who was also selling clothes. He was pretty funny, offered me tips on how to bargain with his friend - ended up getting the dress $5 cheaper than he originally told me. I was trying to convince the guy to sell me the dress cheaper because I was a poor grad student. I guess that's worth about $5. In any case, it turned out that the friendly neighbor was a scientist himself, a geneticist actually. He also owns a clothing company called Dead Clothing, which he bought on a trip to Iceland. All the clothes are designed by his friend from Iceland who is HIV positive and whose life theme is "He who fears death cannot enjoy life."

He offered some advice on some of my experiments that I have been very frustrated with lately (the guy seemed to have some advice for everything) and sounded like he really knew what he was talking about. He mentioned something that I hadn't thought about and might actually be a really great idea. He did not look like your typical scientist either. Imagine a guy in his 30s with tattoos, ears pierced, wearing a funky hat, and admittedly quite hungover, who owns a fashion company and spends his Saturdays hanging out with young designers in Soho. It's not that I usually think that all scientists are nerdy, wear thick glasses and have little social skills or ideas about the world outside of their little corner of expertise, well, maybe I do sometimes...

Lately I have found less inspiration in life generally and so meeting this guy was just so refreshing and inspiring. Some people are motivated by money, fame or awards but I often find that people are more inspiring than anything else. Starting with my parents who had made it possible for me to follow my dreams on to the people I lived with in Kansas who welcomed me into their family as if I was born into it and so many teachers and coaches and others who have given me motivation. And of course, people I don't even know who are amazing and defy all odds to achieve amazing things.