Inspiration-Ian Somerhalder

"You can't get anywhere without the people who have come into your life."

~Ian Somerhalder~

While I'm on the topic of The Vampire Diaries, I thought I'd talk about one of my new inspirations and favorite people, Ian Somerhalder. Honestly, he's the reason I started watching in the first place, so why not talk a little more about him? I had been to a couple different events in LA, and of course, you end up talking about the other "Hollywood" things you've done, like comparing stories of meeting celebrities. Well, several of the people I met, had met Ian a few times during filming in Georgia and other events. At the time, I was just like, "Oh, yeah, I know who he is...", they'd show us pictures,"He's pretty good looking," etc. They all went on and on about how gracious he was, how cool he was at taking time for the fans, and they all talked about his organization, which helps out with animals, among other things. I thought that was so cool that he was actually doing something about the things he believed in. I was like man, I just want to watch the show to support him, but I didn't have a way of catching up at that point. Long story short, I finally got Netflix and caught up in a few months, and here we are.

The more I've learned about Ian, I love what a "go-getter" he is. He doesn't just talk about doing things, he makes them happen. He is also very proactive about making others aware of what's going on in the world, and things we should be concerned about. He is extremely passionate and driven, which I think shows even in his character as Damon. Whatever he's doing, he throws his heart into 110%, and we should all be that way. He loves helping out the environment, helping animals find homes and to stop cruelty, as well as getting youth involved in giving back and getting active with organizations and charities that they are interested in.

I don't agree with his politics, but I do love the fact that he has done his research, and that he believes what he believes. That's the beautiful thing about America; we're free to think differently and it's okay. I like that he is promoting for the younger generation to get involved with this presidential campaign, and vote for who best represents what they believe. Our voices matter, and we should speak up about the issues that are important to us. He is seriously the male version of Sophia Bush. If he wasn't already in a relationship with Nina Dobrev, I would totally encourage the Sophia Bush thing, because they're both so much alike!
Besides, who else would host a live chat during the debate to talk with everyone and make sure that they were informed to what our country is about to face? Ian hosted a live chat from the computer in his living room last night, and it literally felt like we were all just hanging out with him. He would add his two cents here and there about Obama, but he answered a couple questions that people had on Twitter and Social Stream, as well. Here's this incredibly talented actor, who is probably exhausted after long days of filming, but is more concerned about the important issues in our world going on right now and thinks that talking it out is a much better way to come to a conclusion on who to vote for. He is very open about how he feels about women's rights and the pipeline, which I think are good, even though I don't agree so much with all of the details.

After visiting his website, I am more and more inspired to stand up for the things that I believe and to help others out; to give back to my community and the people in my life that have made so many sacrifices for me and have done so much for me, when they didn't have to. He also has another website, called Built Of Barnwood, that him and his brother launched. They make furniture and wall art out of barn wood (that is "green friendly") that they've found around Georgia. I even got my mom into the site, because she loves Fleur De Lis. Their pieces are pretty reasonable too, and gorgeous! I might be asking for something from them for Christmas or my birthday!

Ian is definitely the number one person that I want to meet, and I hope that day comes really soon! I would love to get involved with his organization; I even sent the team an email, hoping for some info back. We shall see!

That's all for now,
Shelby :)