inspiration

do you see this sky?!  this sunrise?  this is what greeted me yesterday morning, and it took my breath away.  in the midst of making breakfast for my two children, i glanced out the window and was awestruck by the glowing sky.  i immediately grabbed my camera off the kitchen counter and went outside in pajamas and slippers and snapped a few shots.  i knew the light would be completely different if i waited even one minute.

a friend recently asked me why i like winter so much.  don’t i hate waking up to the dark, she said.  well, no.  there are candlelit breakfasts and sunrises like these to witness nearly every morning.  glorious.

the pinks, the greys, hints of blues.  the lines, the curves, the puffs.  it woke up my heart and filled me with inspiration.  inspiration for a day to spend with my children; inspiration for a day to finally get the grocery shopping done; inspiration to view the world from behind a camera lens; inspiration to find a few moments in the day to scribble some thoughts; inspiration to live another day.

and there you have it.  my word…inspiration.

i mentioned last week that i had a new word for 2012 rolling around in my head.  and inspiration is that word.  it came to me while i was driving with my children, home from somewhere…i don’t remember where.  i don’t remember what i was thinking about specifically when the word came to me; i wasn’t trying to drum anything up.  but the kids must have been gazing out the windows or must have been engaged in a serious conversation between themselves….because no one was asking me questions and no one was telling me stories.  i had a few moments to allow my mind to wander.  and i remember very clearly this word…inspriration…just kind of popping into my head.  and i knew right away that would be the word, the intention that i would hold in the coming months.  an idea to embrace, to practice, to nurture.

and so i’ve begun this new year, like you…one day at a time, one day to follow another.  and this notion of inspiration nestles next to my endeavors to live mindfully and peacefully.  it is fed by sunrises and children, by doodles and words, by colored pencils and cooking pots, by recent reads like this and this, and by dreams of this.

there is such hope in this word, inspiration.  i feel like it’s about me and you.  it’s about finding community.  it’s about creating and exploring, and wearing my heart on my sleeve.

and i must say here…this sunrise that so inspired me with its crazy colors and goodness…it is thanks to my sweet husband who fixed a computer glitch last night, that i could download these and share them with you today.  without him, there would be no sunrises to share with you just now.  and who knows what words would have flowed without these images?  he worked his magic and here we are.  feeling love and gratitude and inspiration.

now that’s a fine start for a new day, isn’t it?

sending a little love your way, m