Some days, copy flows and work plans lay themselves out in a bullet-by-bullet, orderly manner. Other days, coffee can’t save you, simple emails have to be rewritten twice and inspiration flees. Faced with one of those days, I took to the streets of Uptown to ask what inspires those who work and spend time there.

A few non-scientific observations:

• No two people had the same answer.
• Some people looked like they really wanted to participate, but they couldn’t come up with an answer.
• Several coffee stops occurred during the afternoon, but no baristas had an inspiring story to share.
• Finally, one woman shared a lovely, personal story that was un-shareable, but it was truly inspiring. After she poured out her story, I took off back for the home office with a bit of a spring in my step.

A huge thanks to the Uptown businesses where I stopped by: Calhoun Cycle, Comic Book College, Align Pilates, Jon English and Paper Source.

If you had to answer this question (and you’re not intimidated by a slightly sweaty blonde woman holding a small camera and a massive iced latte): What would you say? And does the answer change because of the camera?