Day 11: Susannah Ford Crush

October 11, 2009 at 12:01 am, Category: Inspiration

“ … all you need to do is take a look around you and stop taking what you see for granted, and you can even use your own imagination to increase your inspiration and your self-belief.”

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Click on the image and the file will open in your default audio player.

This interview was recorded in Skype.  To download the audio,  simply right-click the green player image and select “Save Target As” to save the mp3 file to a folder on your computer.

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Toni Reece: Thank you for agreeing to be part of the Get Inspired! Project, Susannah, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?

Susannah Ford Crush: Yes, I certainly can.  My name is Susannah Ford Crush.  I am from Kent in England, and I am a photographic artist and author of poetry.

Toni: Oh, fantastic!  With the work that you do, or even in personal relationships Susannah, who do you inspire and how do you do that?

Susannah: Well, I like to think that I plant a little inspiration into the lives of everyone who meets me, particularly people who read my poetry and view my photographic art.   My poetry is inspirational in the sense that I write about life, you know, the lessons we all learn, love, positivity, and triumph through adversity, and of course comedy, because life is full of that.  Generally speaking, my poetry and prose is quite observational.  I tend to focus on people and experiences.  My photographic art is very modern, and I use a lot of unique styles and techniques to create images that really catch people’s attention.  I want to give them something deeper than just a basic image, something that will make them think or leave a mark on their life in some way, however briefly that might be.

Toni: That sounds very, very interesting.  When you use your poetry or your images, how do you think that that might help others explore potential within themselves?  Susannah, are you there?

Susannah: Hello?

Toni: Yes, I’m here.  We have to forgive to the audience that we are recording on Skype and there seems to be a bit of a delay; however, we ended with you talking about how your images might encourage others to think a little bit deeper, and that you’re very observational, and my question to you was, using your poetry and using your imagery, how do you think that might help others explore their potential?

Susannah: Well, basically what I’m doing is showing people what is achievable by simply having the confidence to achieve things myself.  I am basically showing people that there are a wealth of opportunities and possibilities beyond the confines of their own personal lives.  My book entitled “In My Shoes” was a great way for me to be able to showcase an interesting combination of the best of my work in writing and photography, and it’s also a great way for people to step into my world by stepping into my shoes, which is the whole point of the title.  And so in doing that, people can take some confidence and motivation to do a lot of great things in their own lives.

Toni: I see.  Do you receive feedback from your audience and examples of how your work has helped them to explore their own potential?

Susannah: I do often get a lot of email actually from people.  Basically, I get a lot of people thanking me that something that they’ve read that I have written has really inspired them to have some confidence to really take a hold of.

Toni: So to take a hold of their own situation, so you do receive that feedback from others, then.  Susannah, we are experiencing a delay.  For those who are listening, Susannah is in the UK and Skype, as wonderful as it is, we do seem to have our issues.  Susannah, are you there?

Susannah: Yes, I am here.

Toni: Okay.  We’re going to continue through.  Are you okay with that?

Susannah: Yes, that’s fine.

Toni: Okay, great.  What do you need to be inspired, Susannah?

Susannah: Basically, it really doesn’t take all that much for me to find any inspiration.  Music has got to be one of the biggest influences in my life.   My father was a musician in the 1960s and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Pink Floyd, and my mother has always been heavily into the music scene, too, so my older brother and I had a very musical upbringing.  In fact, I can say most of my strongest childhood memories incorporate music in some way.  I grew up hearing my dad’s guitar, always allowed to explore my parents’ record collection, so that really was my first true and greatest inspiration.  I now actually write and record my own music.  I sing as well as play the guitar and drums.

Toni: So do you use the inspiration that you find in music?  How does that translate into your photography or your poetry?

Susannah: It definitely translates into my poetry firstly because basically I started off writing lyrics to songs and then I went over into poetry from there.  Basically, it then inspired me to appreciate all forms of art, so that’s how it also came to inspire me to do some photographic art as well.

Toni: When you are looking and seeking for inspiration, Susannah, do you reach for … I know music you stated … are there other tools or resources that you use to stay inspired?

Susannah: Well, I can say that from a young age I developed a gift for performing, and I’m a natural born actress.  I was put into theatre school by my parents at the age of 9 until I was 18, so the stage will always be my true home and a center of a lot of inspiration within me today.  My passion for the dramatic arts gradually led me into having an appreciation for art as a whole.

Toni: How do you compare being inspired with the music that your parents listened to, to the music that you listen to today?

Susannah: It’s hard to say really, but basically I think my true passion for music does come from the music of my parents’ generation, so we’re talking from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, basically.

Toni: That’s interesting.  My parents as well were musicians, so I understand where that inspiration comes from, from that time frame.  When you are looking to continuously explore your own potential so that your artistry can blossom and your performance may be enhanced in some way, what do you need to explore your own potential?

Susannah: I would think that basically self-belief is a key element for me to be able to explore my own personal potential.  I know that I need to set aside time regularly to boost my own confidence and remind myself of what I’m capable of achieving.  In the past, I have had confidence issues and suffered from anxiety, so it’s really important for me to remember to give myself a pat on the back from time to time.  I know that I do sometimes go through periods of not being quite as artistic as I usually am, so it’s during those periods that I like to take some time to reflect.  That’s when I really give myself credit for whatever I accomplished so far, and it really helps me to get back into a position where I can generate further potential in a creative sense; you know, basically let the creative juices start to flow again.  I could also bring in my strong imagination into this question.  Without that, I would probably be at a great loss for empowering myself to be creative in the first place.

Toni: The self-belief is a very, very important topic when it comes to inspiration.  Are there tools that you reach for, Susannah, in addition to patting yourself on the back and appreciating your gifts?  What might you reach for?  Where do you find other ways to explore that potential and to stay strong in that self-belief?

Susannah: I like to do exercises in mediation every day; that really kind of starts my day off well.  If I know that I’ve taken some time aside from how busy I can get and just sit quietly, breathe, and focus my attention on just being, basically; you know, just taking some time to relax.  I know that I can then give myself more of an ability to be able to focus myself better on being creative.

Toni: I would imagine that the self-belief and the imagination, the confidence, those are very, very strong needs to work on and to work through whether you’re creative, whether you’re in a workplace, no matter what your position in life is, I believe that the self-belief, your imagination, and your confidence has to be strong in order to move forward and to stay inspired and to inspire others.  Do you believe that?

Susannah: Oh, fully, I totally believe.  I think that’s one of the most important things that you can do for yourself, for your own confidence in whatever you do, whether it’s something artistic or otherwise.  I think you’ve really got to boost your confidence regularly, give yourself that self-belief that you can continue to be successful in whatever realm it is you are successful in.

Toni: So from what I’m understanding from you, Susannah, the who that you inspire are the people who are looking or reading your photography or your poetry, and you tried to keep that in a positive way to get people to think a little bit deeper, to know that things are achievable, and the confidence issues of being in my shoes helps, but that came from what you need for inspiration, which you’ve spoken about self-belief and confidence.  So there seems to be a direct correlation on what you seek for inspiration and to explore your own potential that translates very beautifully into your artistry and your poetry.

Susannah: Oh definitely, yes.  I think I have tried many times to try and get that really across, and it did take a lot of effort to begin with, and I suppose that’s partly due to when I was younger not having the confidence and the wisdom to be able to get that across as well, but that’s what I tried to do and really making it noticeable to other people.

Toni: Now we did have a bit of a delay there; I want to make sure because it’s very, very important to what you had just said, that we heard you say that when you were younger of course you didn’t have the wisdom of how important those attributes were.  For those people that are out there reading your interview or hearing this recording, Susannah, can you give an example of how you realized that you needed to boost that self-belief and the confidence?  How did you know that you needed to fill that up?

Susannah: Well basically, for many years I was around people, my peer group, a lot of people were complaining that they lacked inspiration and, basically, I first wrote a piece of prose that was about hearing those people complain about their lack of inspiration.  What I wanted to get across in that particular piece was all you need to do is take a look around you and stop taking what you see for granted, and you can even use your own imagination to increase your inspiration and your self-belief.  The human imagination is very, very powerful.  I have always had a very strong imagination and really used it to its fullest, and I find I can connect with other people who have strong imaginations in a very meaningful and inspirational way.

Toni: Well, I have to tell you, even with our technical glitches of speaking by Skype and recording, you’re interview is very powerful, Susannah, and to be able to be so honest about what your own needs for inspiration are and where they came from and how you explore your own potential to talk about so beautifully your poetry and your photography in the way that you did, you will definitely paint a picture for someone that will benefit from your story and just this little snapshot of your story, and for that I so appreciate you giving your time to the Get Inspired! Project so that others can benefit from this snapshot of your story.

Susannah: Well thank you very much for giving me this opportunity as well.  I’ve really enjoyed it.

Toni: Thank you, Susannah, very much, and I hope to speak to you soon.
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For more information about Susannah Ford Crush:  www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/433508

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