Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by Michael . Michael Wonders, “What inspires you?” Thanks for WONDERing with us, Michael !

Do you have a wild imagination? Sometimes adults can have a negative attitude about wild imaginations. But not here! In Wonderopolis, we value wild imaginations. It’s those wild imaginations that inspire us to WONDER about the things in life worth WONDERing about!

And guess what? There are MANY things in this world to WONDER about. We hope you never stop WONDERing, no matter how old you get. If you haven’t done so yet, share Wonderopolis with an adult in your life. You never know when your love of Wonderopolis will inspire someone else to WONDER alongside you.

Today, we’re WONDERing about inspiration. Inspiration is that feeling that strikes when you’re moved to action by something you’re passionate about. Inspiration can lead you to take a chance and do something great.

To get anything done, you must act. And in turn, actions must be motivated by something. Sometimes those motivations aren’t all that inspiring. You might study and do homework because you have to. For example, some students do homework and study for tests just to avoid negative consequences.

Other students, however, love the subjects they study. Do you love music? How about art? If you watched the video at the top of today’s Wonder of the Day, you know that other people can provide inspiration. In this clip of testimony from the USC Shoah Foundation, Mona Golabek describes being inspired by her mother, Lisa Jura. Jura was a Holocaust survivor who dreamed of becoming a concert pianist. 

This inspiration motivated Mona to play the piano and become a well-known concert pianist herself. Later, Mona even wrote the "Children of Willesden Lane" books about her mother’s experience. Passion can motivate and inspire you to learn and practice—and that passion can spread to others, as well.

It should come as no surprise that the best ideas, the most creative concepts, and the most positive results come from people who are inspired. When you’re inspired to do great things, great things usually happen!

Sometimes, inspiration just happens. When you’re least expecting it, you see something or hear something or experience something that moves you deeply. That’s the purest kind of inspiration. When it strikes, we encourage you to follow its lead and see where you end up.

At other times, you may need to make your own inspiration. Can you do that? You bet you can! It just takes a little work. Here are a few ideas you can try if you’re feeling a little uninspired:

  • Turn to the arts! Listen to your favorite song, read something from your favorite author, or daydream while looking at your favorite painting. You can even take a walk outside to let the natural beauty of the world around you inspire you!

  • Hang out with a friend! Just the act of talking with a friend can inspire you in ways you might not expect. Sharing stories and emotions with a close friend can let you know that you’re not alone. You might also learn about common interests that inspire you to do great things together!

  • Try to see the world from a different perspective! Browse Wonderopolis to learn something new. Explore another culture through books or websites. Put yourself in other people’s shoes. Seeing things from a different perspective can inspire you to do things differently…and you never know where that can lead!

Are you feeling more inspired already? We sure hope so! We can’t wait to hear about the great things you’ll do with your new-found inspiration!

Preserving memories are a vital part of the human experience, and USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive contains over 55,000 testimonies from survivors and witnesses—using audio and video—to educate future generations about the Holocaust and other atrocities, in support of the Institute’s mission to develop empathy, understanding, and respect through testimony so the next generation understands the importance of learning from the Holocaust and making the world a better place. Its IWitness platform contains many of these testimonies that were gathered using recorded interviews to tell the stories of survivors and witnesses.

Standards: CCRA.L.3, CCRA.L.6, CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.2, CCRA.R.4, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.SL.1, CCRA.W.2, CCRA.L.1, CCRA.L.2

Wonder What's Next?

Learn about a famous author in tomorrow’s Wonder of the Day!