After taking a nice long family walk last week, we decided to check out all of the plants and trees in our yard to see if there were any signs of life. We walked slowly, letting Dane toddle along with us, our little explorer. To our happy surprise – our trees have lots of buds, and many of the plants have green pushing up through the dirt. We loved watching the wonder in Dane’s eyes as he explored the outdoors (and snuck a fistful of mulch too – haha!) It’s been a very dreary spring so far, in fact – we’re breaking all the records for rain fall in our area. So it was truly encouraging to see those signs of new life all around us. It got me thinking a little more about staying inspired daily, particularly when the sun hasn’t shown it’s face in a while – and the forecast is filled with rain. We’re looking at a nicer weekend ahead, and I’m praying that Spring is really here.
I started this blog almost a year ago – and some weeks the ideas and inspiration flow – sometimes I have too much to share. Other weeks, I find it hard to find my voice and can’t quite figure out what to write about. When that happens I remind myself of why I started doing this in the first place – to stay me. Knowing that, some weeks will be boring and some will be exciting and that’s okay. I decided a long time ago that if I wasn’t feeling inspired to write, or maybe what I was feeling was too personal, I wouldn’t force it.
If you’ve been reading for a while, many of you know that our family is going through a pretty hard time. Being a family affected by cancer and all of the other complications that go along with it is typically an uphill battle. There are way more steps back than forward, and so many disappointments. It sucks a lot of positivity away down a deep dark hole. SO much of what I am feeling and consumed my thoughts most of the time is too personal to share right now, but I’m still writing and maybe someday I’ll hit publish. It’s made it difficult to find inspiration to write about anything else, mostly because I want to make sure I share my most authentic self with you guys, and right now I can’t pretend that everything is okay.
Where does inspiration come from?
This isn’t really that hard to answer. For me, it tends to come from a lot of places: nature, family, feeling loved, loving myself, feeling proud and smart.
in-spire
- fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative
- breathe in (air); inhale
When I looked up the definition of inspire – I loved what I found: an urge or ability to FEEL. Spring is notorious for being a time of fresh starts and new beginnings. People get excited about warmer weather, opening the house up to fresh air, and of course nature blooming all around us. Easter is next weekend – it’s another perfect example of “beginning again” – with Christ rising from the dead. It’s symbolic and meaningful.
The secondary definition of inspire is to breathe in; inhale. This phrase in and of itself has held SUCH a significant role for us the past months. I think on any given day I utter some variation of the phrase “just breathe” no less than 50 times. It is so damn relevant to what we’re going through – it’s remarkable.
I’m thankful every day for my life, my experiences and the things that force me to grow. Some days are hard, some are less hard, and they all play a part. I guess my whole point in writing this is to try and find some inspiration. I’m trying to look for ways to feel the urge to do something creative, and most importantly to remember to breathe in, and inhale.
Staying Martha 
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