Tag Archives: inspiration

Found

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Today finds me at another art show. It is the annual Men Who Paint Show & Sale. It is our third year. We are getting acquainted with the artists’ styles. Paul Trottier owns Hues Art Supply where I have taken some art classes. I am getting comfortable rubbing elbows with our local artists. It is surprising to find so many talented individuals in our midst. Here’s a few paintings from the show that spoke to me. They’re painted by Greg Hargarten.

Inspired by the art show and the quilt show these last couple of days gave me enough energy to dig out my log cabin quilt squares and try piecing them together. It wasn’t easy. First I had to get reacquainted with my Bernina sewing machine. It was quite a painful process for my brain. I gave myself time to clean and lubricate it. Then I proceeded from there. I didn’t try to perform magic. I just sewed a couple of blocks together. I had already done some years before and gave up. Now I’m back at it. I’ve found the will. I/it will be done. I am found.

A Saturday In October

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It’s day 18 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. So far, so good. I’ve been able to show up daily but I am in danger of tanking today. I’m showing up late. Words and thoughts are slow in coming. My day started well with a hearty breakfast of omelette and toast. I’m always slow at getting the show on the road. I like to hem and haw, undecided as to what I should do. One of these days, I have to start to make daily plans as to what I need/want to accomplish. Oh, maybe I can start tomorrow.

I wasn’t totally wasteful. I did some morning stretches to limber up and added a couple of minutes hoola hooping. I thought of doing the stairs and a bit of weights but I didn’t. I’ve fallen behind on the Inktober challenge so I made one quick sketch instead. Then it was almost 10 am. Time to head out to a couple of art shows. It was good to step out into the October sunshine. I felt immediately energized. The house across the street from the show was an art piece itself. I had to snap a picture.

I was excited by the second show we went to. One of the artist did fabric art. Her landscapes were beautiful.I came away inspired and wanting to turn on my sewing machine. Maybe tomorrow or the next day.

Bliss and Inspirations

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October 2 and the second day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I’ve never had a plan of how I tackle this challenge. I just sit down at the keyboard and hope my fingers will find the words. I found that there is a rhythm when I get going. It soothes and smooths me. It stirs a physical pleasure in me. I love seeing how the letters and words march across the screen. It is a meditative process, an exhalation of my soul. I sigh with my fingers as well as my breath. And life is beautiful again in the moment.

Finding bliss is a good reason to keep writing. Meeting and connecting with like minded people is a good reason for participating in these writing challenges. It helps to keep the juices flowing. It’s good to have a cheering section. Excitement at the start wanes after a few days. Writer’s block sets in pretty fast. Then it is hard work to carry me through to the next bliss. I look for inspiration everywhere.

Inspiration is all around. Sometimes I have to be wakened to see it. The other day I found it in the story of the Grand Hotel in Shaunavon. I’ve been following the journey of its restoration on Facebook for awhile and had forgotten about it till the other day. It’s been sitting vacant for over 40 years till Kent Karenmaker bought it. The project was to help his mental health and to find purpose. I find that pretty inspiring since he suffers from depresseion and was working on it by himself. It is a grand hotel with a grand history. It holds a fascination for me because the original owners were Chinese. Two members of the family were murdered in front of the hotel in 1940. It’s a story forgotten but not lost.

It’s Never Too Late

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It’s day 10 for the April Ultimate Blog Challenge. This time around, I have learned that it’s better to come to the keyboard early rather than later. My brain is still fresh, not yet polluted by the day and negative thoughts. Mid afternoons are my worse time for being like a puddle on the floor. But it’s never too late to rouse oneself and start. I was inspired by Diane Friedman, who started competing in track and field in her mid 70’s. And she was competing and setting records at 100 years old.

What an inspiration, eh? It gave my derriere a boost out of the muddle and start moving. Just when I thought I couldn’t, I could. Even though it was late, late afternoon yesterday and I was a limp rag, I roused myself enough to bake 18 pumpkin muffins with walnuts and chocolate chips. So you see, it is never too late. The impossible can be possible.

Inspiration, Perspiration

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Photo by yves renan on Pexels.com

My wish for rain came true. It’s cloudy as can be with rain coming down. It’s as if the whole world is weeping. There is that much sadness in the world but I must not give into that sadness. I must use it to inspire myself into better. I must pull myself up by the bootstraps. When inspiration does not work, there’s the perspiration of hard work. It works. It’s in the mindset.

I’m off on a better start today. It helps to know and accept oneself. I have. Knowing that I feels things deeply and have the propensity for melancholia, I’ve always have had to work hard to maintain a positive outlook. Good cheer and energy does not come naturally to me. I have learned to compensate for the lack. Perhaps it’s not such a bad thing. Having to work for it have built good habits and resilience in me. I do worry about maintaining it as I age.

My saving graces are my love of learning and self-improvement. I have this thirst for knowledge and how to do better. I’ve been reading Jim Kwik’s Limitless and Stan Goldberg’s Preventing Senior Moments: How to Stay Alert into Your 90s and Beyond. Both emphasize what a miracle our brain is. Did you know that the world’s fastest supercomputer requires 24 million watts of power to operate, but our brain only requires 20 and is a hundred thousand times faster than a computer? I wonder why we are dumbing ourselves by our dependence on the computer for everything. Why don’t we upgrade our own softwares by actively using our brain more?

I AM READY

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Sometimes magic happens when you just start – anything. And contrary to popular belief, don’t look at the whole picture. When I do, I’m often overwhelmed with the impossibility of it and I don’t start. I was pushed forward by the fact that every time I look out my sunroom, my view was obscured by dusty windows. I felt disgusted and shameful. I thought I could wash some if not all of them. I ended washing all but 3. Motivated I did the bedroom and bathroom windows the next day. The following day after that, I did the kitchen ones. Each time I marvelled that I can see and smell clean and it felt wonderful.

Now I have just the livingroom left and all the windows in the basement. There’s LOTS of windows down there. That’s why it’s best not to think of the big picture. But it did lead me to think about my mother and her house. My 90 year old parents are still living on their own. We help with the grocery shopping, the lawn and snow shovelling in winter. She didn’t want help with the house. Seeing how much hard it was for myself, I asked her if she needed help with washing the windows and the dusting. Oh, I washed all the windows already, she told me. I do one a day. It takes me a couple of months but they’re done. I use a stick with a cloth to dust those hard to reach things so I’m good.

I’ve always admired my mother but now even more. She has always been my source of inspiration. While I’m still on this motivation high, I tackled putting all the garden stuff away in the garage today. I tried to do it properly by finding a place for everything. It’s a bit of a job but I made a start. It’s been a long time since I worked in the garage. 9 years exactly, the number of years since I’ve retired. I cleared a few shelves of dust, dirt and cobwebs for my plant trays. A few pots were broken that got accidentally knocked down. I pulled out totes to see what they held. I found 2 of Sheba’s beds in one. Even though they had been washed before being stored, they stank. I was ready to let them go now. She has been gone for 2½ years. It is time.

I’m feeling surprised by my get up and go. I have been so languid for so long. I felt as if I have just woke from a deep slumber. I think it is my 90 year old mother jolting me awake. If she can still keep her house spic and span, I could at least try for just spic to start. Being able to still keep her house clean gives her so much pleasure along with walking in her garden and seeing her flowers. I can learn alot from her. I have a long way to go and lots to do. I am ready.

THE MUSIC IN MY HEAD

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It’s day 12 of the November Ultimate Blog Challenge. 12 days is actually a very short time but when you are counting, it feels like forever. I’m still up for the game. There’s only 18 days left. How hard can that be? When you’re having fun, time and words flow. If you’ve visited me before, you would know I have a regular jukebox in my head. It hasn’t played for quite awhile until today. When lifeI get too fast, the music stops. I’ve been slowing down this month, taking more time to languish and enjoy the coffee. My jukebox started up again today.

This morning Don McLean is singing in my head.

So, bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good ol’ boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, “This’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die”

I have no control over what plays. It’s not like there’s a slot I can plug my quarter into. But whatever plays have been quite helpful and inspiring for my index card art.

  • Proud Mary – Tina Turner
  • Love Me Tender – Elvis
  • Brian Hyland
  • Hello Mary Lou – Ricky Nelson
  • Neil Diamond

I hope the music never dies.

PLAY AND INSPIRATION – Day 49 and 50 in a year of…

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Day 49 and 50, August 10, 2016 @7:40 pm

It’s that witching hour again where I have to come up with a few words for two days.  Egad! It’s tough enough to come up with a few pearls of wisdoms period.  Well, let me wave my broom and see what I can come up with.

img_7600Yesterday’s idea was to have more fun.  Sheba totally agrees.  She’s squeaking her purple ball right at my side. You have to be careful for what you ask for.  You might get it and then you are sorry.  Yup, she is barking.  Let’s play! Play can be hard work.  Maybe it’s because I’m not good at it.  I need to play more so that it is not so foreign.  That’s what takes up energy – the unease, the not at home with play.

Today I am still rolling with the idea of play, of not working at goals, at anything.  I couldn’t work at anything if I try anyways.  I am too tired – from exercising and having fun yesterday.  It was good just to be a spectator of the day at Saskatoon’s Highland Games. I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn’t such a cool day.  Still it was good to brave the outdoors and something new.  I came away inspired by the men who loved their sport.  What they taught me was that we could do spectacular things if we love what we do.  I am happy that I am an inspiration seeker.  I was not seeking today.  It came to me on the music of bagpipes.

 

 

DOLDRUMS AND LISTS

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Doldrums are painful. They seep into you unawares and rob you of joie de vivre. They’re like vampires sucking the very juice of you, leaving behind a wet dishcloth, a soggy noodle, Linus without his blanket or a Snoopy on top of his doghouse. I DON’T like doldrums but what to do?  Snoopy has the right idea. When in doubt and all else fails, sleep it off.  Maybe I can dream up some solutions.  Maybe I can borrow Linus’ blanket.  Why don’t I make a list.

I wonder if this is what they call brainstorming.  Can I be a team of one?  It’s working at easing my doldrums.  I’m coming alive – without the doghouse and the blanket.  Oh, happy day! pops into my head.  Singing seems to help even if it’s in my head.  I can hear and see Whoopi Goldberg and the kids whooping it up in Sister Act.  Oh happy day!

IMG_4143I’m well out of the wet noodle phase now.  Apparently doing something, anything can disturb the doldrum mindset.  I’m not a list maker but it’s another thing I can do to shake things loose.  I can learn to take an inventory of the things I need/like/want to do for future episodes.  Might as well be practical, productive, imaginative and have fun at the same time.  Oh, happy day it is when I can get inspired!

 

 

 

WOMEN AT WORK

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IMG_6628The sky was overcast, the morning air sweet with the smell of rain. The birds sang in full chorus.  Bring it on!

I have a little gas in my tank and I am ready to tackle the day.  No more procrastination, at least for today.  I am fuelled by my recent successes.

  • I called the city about the poor condition of the back alley and they showed up on Mothers Day to grade it!
  • I made an appointment and got a date to have my car’s rusted tailgate repainted.
  • Yesterday, the roofer showed up to fix a faulty flashing on the garage roof without a reminder.  YAY!  I love businesses who live up to their reputation.

IMG_0723I am pumped and ready to go.  So I might as well strike while the iron is hot.  Is that how the saying goes?  Even though I can’t move a mountain physically, I can metaphorically, in small loads.

IMG_0732Sheba supervised from afar, making sure that I don’t screwed up.  I got 4 loads before the rain came.  Good thing the roofer came yesterday!

So you’re probably wondering where and why I am moving my mountain.  It is for creating little gardens of eden – 4 of them this year.  Hopefully we will harvest aplenty in the fall.  We won’t be able to feed the world but it’s a start….in a good direction.