The People, Animals and Experiences That Have Inspired Me

When I think about inspiration, it has come from many different places throughout my life. Some of it has come from people, some from animals, some from experiences, and some from the more unusual spiritual parts of my journey.

My nanny was one of the biggest influences on me. She gave me the confidence to be myself, to let things go and to spread love. She had experienced trauma in her own life, yet she remained incredibly loving. When I was younger, I sometimes saw that softness as weakness. As I have got older, I have come to see it as extraordinary strength.

She was also one of my biggest supporters. When I was about twelve, I told her I had started writing a book, and from then on she would keep asking me whether I had written any more. Whatever I was doing next, she was interested in it. Even now, I often check myself and what I am doing against whether she would be proud of it. In that sense, she is still a measure I use for myself. And she also left me with one of the best pieces of advice I have ever had: never trust a person who doesn't like dogs.

My mum inspired a very different part of me. She is a strong businesswoman and a big supporter of women thinking like men in business. She taught me to take risks, back myself and own what I could do rather than concentrating on what I couldn't.

My dad was a very different character again. Some would probably describe him as a little bit of a crackpot character. We shared a lot of energy, a willingness to take risks and a desire to live freely. I also took from him that tendency to question rules and expectations when they did not make sense, rather than simply following them because everyone else did.

My sister has supported me through plenty of my madness and has continued to encourage me at times when other people may have raised their eyebrows at whatever I was doing next. My brother has also contributed to the more unusual side of my life. He gifted me a dragon in meditation, believe it or not, and dragons have since become part of my spiritual experiences.

I was also fortunate to have an incredible teacher who became a lifelong friend. She is also Ms Molls' owner. The love she gives is enormous, and the way she can bring through God's love in meditation is beyond powerful. The impact that has had on me is difficult to describe. From the first time I turned up on her doorstep broken, she supported me, and she has continued to support me through my journey.

She has also encouraged me for a long time to put more of my own journey out into the world and given me the confidence to share it in the hope that it might help others.

There have been some miraculous stories connected with her and Ms Molls too, the sort of experiences that can make you question reality, belief and love. Ms Molls has even appeared in meditation, if you are far out enough to believe that.

Another extraordinary spiritual teacher and friend has helped give me the confidence not to keep questioning the knowing I have or the gifts I have been given.

Animals have inspired me for as long as I can remember. When I was about five or six, I was already so concerned about how animals were being treated that my parents, who did not really know what to do with me, directed me to the World Wide Fund for Nature. I started writing letters and gave them all of my birthday money so they could help animals until I was old enough to get a job and help them myself. I became vegetarian when I was ten.

Dogs in particular have always had a strong place in my life. They have simply always been a welcome part of my day-to-day life. Any interaction with a dog was something I naturally welcomed and enjoyed. Ted is part of that story too, and my children regularly joke that he is the favourite child. They may have a point.

My children are also a huge source of inspiration. I see the funny sides of them, alongside watching them manage busy lives and competing priorities. I can also see at times how I have shaped and modelled some of their views of life. I encourage them to follow their passions, their creative dreams and go for the world.

I have also always had a very strong group of friends who have seen me and who are still very prevalent in my life today. They all know who they are. Men, women, dogs and the kids attached to them have all found their way into that circle.

So my inspiration has never come from one person or one place. It has come from love, encouragement, humour, animals, creativity, risk, questioning, friendship, my children, teachers, and some fairly extraordinary spiritual experiences.

They have all, in very different ways, helped give me the confidence to be myself, follow what matters to me and share more of my journey in the hope that it might help somebody else.