For a couple weeks I’ve been meaning to blog, but failed each time I sat down to write. Tonight, I’ve decided to just see what happens, building on the inspiration I found in Kris Carr’s news(love)letter and Allie Larkin’s blog. They have one powerful thing in common — lists. There’s nothing like a good old list to get your head straight. Especially when you’ve been stitching together sentences and paragraphs to create a story and your brain has turned to mush. Here’s what has injected inspiration and motivation into my life over the past couple weeks (in no particular order):
1. This may just be a coincidence, but I’d like to think it’s something else…While combing my brain for blog ideas, e.e. cummings popped into my mind and I started to reminisce about my love for his poetry, remembering when Steve and I had just met. We own e.e.’s 100 Selected Poems and I decided to search our many bookshelves for it. I didn’t find it in the office, so I trekked downstairs and pulled it from the bookshelf. Note: While walking downstairs I thought, “Hm, it might be in the basement. Maybe my wonderful husband will go into that cold damp room and find it.” As I pulled it from the shelf, Steve told me he had seen it downstairs this morning and decided it needed to be placed in our brand new bookshelf in the living room. He also remarked that he had been thinking about a certain poem throughout the day. A poem that just happened to be the one I was looking at…
somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near
your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose
or if your wish be to close me, i and
my life will shut very beautifully ,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;
nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the color of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing
(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands
Each time I read one of e.e.’s poems, I am baffled by his ability to describe the human experience in a way that is both accessible and genius, while using so few words.
2. Magical things happen when I find clarity, which is why I completed three lists (with pen and paper!) today. I answered three questions: What do you love about life today? What lights your board? Where will you be a year from now? No doubts, negativity, or nay-saying allowed.
3. I started working on Book 2 again. Just reading the first three chapters filled me with excitement for this new project.
4. I watched a bunch of Vlog Brothers videos. John and Hank Green are two of the most innovative, funny, and smart people I’ve ever encountered.
5. Thank you Stephanie Perkins for recommending this film! So beautiful! Watch the trailer for Bright Star…chills, right?
What has inspired you lately?
I found my center, my purpose, and my heart through writing and I’m here to help you do the same. I work with entrepreneurs, authors, academics, and other driven individuals to help them find their voice on the page. 
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Great list! Thanks for sharing! I always ask my clients, “If you could wave a magic wand, what would your life look like?” That gives us a place to start and specific changes to make to get to that point. I love that question.
Stay warm!
Thanks, Maria! Your clients are lucky to have you:)
What a lovely compliment! Thank you! I feel like to know you xoxo
oops I meant “lucky to know you!” Multi-tasking isn’t my greatest talent!
Hi, Corinne, I’m in Baltimore too–I’m inspired by the snow, in particular the way this latest snowfall hangs like ribbons on the rooftops. Have you seen it? It’s cool when I look up at it, (but not so cool when I need to parallel park in it).
Hi Karen! Isn’t it crazy out there? We’re going to get 10-20 more inches! I like how the blizzard has slowed things down. Neighbors are talking and helping each other out. It’s really nice to see:) Thanks for stopping by!
Oh! That movie looks amazing! Thanks so much for linking to me, lady!
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