Ask the Author: Orly Wahba
Answered Questions (6)
Orly Wahba
I founded Life Vest Inside, a non profit organization dedicated to spreading kindness back in 2011. The organization first took off after my short film, Kindness Boomerang went viral. The film tracks an act of kindness as it travels down one street, inspiring additional acts of kindness in its wake. The book came about through the work I've been doing with the organization; inspiring people to make small, yet powerful changes in their life by simply becoming aware of the opportunities that surround them to infuse kindness into their lives. I've always loved lesson-a-day books, providing readers with tangible ways to make daily change and so I was excited to set forth on this venture to create a lesson-a-day book on kindness.
Orly Wahba
Inspiration means something different for everyone. For me, inspiration can be found in a song, in a movie, in the smile of a child, on a train ride and in simply experiencing the world and connecting with people. Some of my best writing was inspired after days spent engaging people in conversation and reaching out to those in need.
Orly Wahba
I am in the midst of planning a cross country tour for Kindness Boomerang from the west coast to the east coast. This listening and sharing tour will not only serve to continue spreading awareness about the power of kindness, but it will also bring to light ways in which I aim to increase kindness perception within the US over the course of the next ten years. I aim to use the tour as a means to spark conversation and dialogue with people of all backgrounds around the importance of kindness and how together we can make the US a kinder place to live. I hope to inspire, empower and equip those I meet along the journey with tools to make a change in their own life and within their community. I look forward to what's to come from this tour and perhaps a new book it may inspire.
Orly Wahba
Start. I know it sounds simple but it's far from it. We will always create reasons and excuses why we can't begin, why NOW isn't the right time. But what I've learned is that the right time is when you decide for it to be. The timing may never be perfect, the writing may not come out as you had planned for it to, but if you don't begin - your words, your thoughts, your stories will be trapped inside of you hidden away from a world of people that could be enjoying them at this very moment. Forget the fear. The fear of failure, the fear that you won't be good enough, that your words won't matter, that no one will care. Forget the endless list of excuses to push it off to another day and start.
Orly Wahba
Having the opportunity to share a moment, impact lives and connect with someone that you may never meet. Writing this book wasn’t a task, it was a journey. A journey I took through my past and through what I hope will be my future. It’s only when we stop and hit the pause the button that we can see where we’ve come and decide where we hope to go.
Orly Wahba
That's a great question! For me, writing is all about being inspired and allowing yourself to connect deeply to what makes you tick. One thing is for certain - you can't force inspiration. If you find yourself sitting in a room staring at a computer with no words and thoughts flowing from you, get out there and experience the world. Oftentimes when we take those breaks inspiration has a way of finding us. Creating a set schedule is important because it brings you structure so long as you know when it's ok to take a break from that structure. Listening to music, playing sports, spending time with family, going for a walk or even watching a movie helped me push through moments of writer's block.
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