What Inspires Me #1

You know how people keep gratitude journals? I really wanted to start doing that again, keeping a list of a few things each day that I am grateful for—like family, coffee, my cats, etc. But I realized my heart doesn’t want that right now.

It’s not that I’m not grateful for those things. Of course I am. Plus, gratitude helps you stay grounded and present and notice what you already have. It provides a sense of calm. And yes, of course I want to be grounded and calm—have you ever met a teacher (or human) who doesn’t?

For me, though, gratitude is a seeking inward. It’s reflective. I need to seek outward.

I need to be lifted.

We lived through a pandemic, something historic and traumatic. Between teaching high school English and getting caught in media culture wars, and my mother dying in 2020 (from small cell lung cancer, not Covid), and polarized politics, and climate change, and a bomb threat at my school this week, life has felt…I don’t know…super depressing!

My nervous system has been overstimulated by high stress and instability, and understimulated from being stuck inside too long. Maybe I feel this way after every New England winter, but as spring approaches, I need to be inspired.

I need to witness and experience wonder and awe. I want to cultivate hope and connection and joy in my life. I want to feel alive and human again.

I’ve decided to post random things that have inspired me lately, and I’ll share them every so often in a post. I know it’s semantics, because things that inspire us we are probably also grateful for, so isn’t that the same thing? No, I don’t think so. Like I’m grateful that I have a dishwasher after years of not having one, but it’s not exactly awe-inspiring.

Gratitude practice is like focusing on the soil. Inspiration practice focuses on the sunlight. (Maybe that metaphor doesn’t work, but I gave it a shot.)

So here are a few random things that have inspired me lately, and I hope you’ll add your own in the comments. Maybe, it’ll light a spark in all of us.

1. Cute notebooks that make me want to write in them. Hardcover, not spiral bound (that gets tangled in my bag) and lined. Bonus if it has an elastic to keep it closed, or a ribbon to keep my place. Notebooks are where I get messy with ideas. Most of my writing journals are from Peter Pauper Press since I love their designs, and many of them meet my notebook criteria.

   

   my 2023 notebook

2. I finished watching the The Last Kingdom series with my husband—who doesn’t love Uhtred? I am so excited it’s coming back for a streaming film in April.

3. I finished the first two seasons of Harlem on Amazon Prime. It’s like Sex and the City with four fabulous Black women. So good.

4. I’ve been listening to music from my preteen years. Lately, I’ve been blasting and singing Whitney Houston’s Greatest Hits (off key, haha) because I want to dance with somebody.

5. “First Fridays”—My family and I started this new thing where on the first Friday of each month, we go to a new local restaurant that we’ve never been to before. We each take turns choosing, and we’ve been keeping a list so we can vote on favorites at the end of the year. It’s been a really good way to get out of a food rut and support local restaurants.

6. “Hello, my name Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” I saw Mandy Patinkin perform live at our local performance arts center. Live shows always get me in the feels.

7. I watch Garden Answer daily on YouTube. The host, Laura, inspired me to try gardening when I knew nothing about it since I never grew up with a yard. I watch her videos now like we are old friends. She taught me to take risks in the garden and not worry about failure—a really good life lesson for creative folk.

8. The first flowers of spring in my garden are starting to break through. Scilla, crocus, tulips, irises, all planted by me. It reminds me that my actions now create the future.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   Oh, and two of my winter sowing jugs have already sprouted! Check it out—I uploaded a short video.

What has inspired you lately? Please share in the comments.