What Inspires?

I was in need of something new, today. I looked out of the window over my desk this morning and realized the spring I had seen just weeks ago was somehow different, somehow changed. The redbuds that once stood out against electric green grass were gone, and in their place, even brigther green trees set against deeper blue and open skies. There was less budding and more growing, less newness and that feeling of maturity - of sticking in for the long haul after a phase of euphoria. And so, I felt a need to reflect that in some way.

Isn't it amazing what we draw inspiration from? How our moods, our clothes, our lives are so affected by certain things. Take for instance seasons and nature; these for me are life-giving forces that seem to speak of everything that is bigger and much more important than my own little world. And yet, at the same time - they speak of simple things, things dependent simply on our planet's proximity to the sun (and paralleling my own proximity to Him).

I tend to notice that simple things inspire me, like soft music and profound lyrics recorded in a living room by Rosie Thomas, a cup of coffee from the breakroom with hazelnut creamer, the Wilderness Systems catalouge full of pictures of people in kayaks on lakes and rivers with wispy clouds and setting suns in the background, the sound of rain and thunder on a weekday morning, the deep love of a God I cannot see and yet cannot help but see, the voice of my best friend and fiancee on the telephone, and even the quiet which gives room for reflection and for revelation.

These images, these moments - they awaken and enliven me - and I think it's important not only to notice what inspires you but to create environments and to surround yourself with those sorts of things - whether it's books, or people, pictures, songs, and places - or even nothing at all.

What inspires you?