Day of Inspiration and Action

It's that time of year.  It's cold.  It's dark.  The holidays are over, and our to do lists are LOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG.  This makes it difficult to do two things:

1.  Feel inspired
2.  Take action.

"Just let me stay in bed and procrastinate a little longer,"  might be our first thought.  

And from this place it is so easy to spiral down into guilt and shame--which is just an ugly pit that can be difficult to escape.

​So today I am inviting you and me to take action--maybe even mini, micro actions.  Let's take little steps together to get our inspiration back and our action on track.

Let's start with inspiration:

• Take a walk--even a quick one and look at trees.  Here in Ohio there is a light blanket of snow that makes the trees look gorgeous.  Breathe in the beauty of trees.
• Scroll down through this site or another site for inspiration.  Set the timer for just 15 minutes.  This is inspiration, not a time sucker.
• Choose to eat one meal that really nourishes you.  It tastes good and it's good for you.  Let this inspiration fuel you.
• Be an observer of inspiration--just seek it out today.
• ​Grab yourself a Brave Inspiration card deck
• Do a fun activity for just a few minutes or a few hours--you decide.

An now for action:
{When you have lots to do the getting started part can be the biggest obstacle, so let's get started!}

• Make a list of the 3 most important things for you to accomplish today.  {I did NOT say 3 pages, just 3 things!}
• Take the first step in doing the first thing on your list.
• Solicit support for completing your list.
• Stay focused, even when there are interruptions or roadblocks--3 Most Important Tasks
• YOU HAVE THIS!
  
  P.S.  Tomorrow I'm going to ask you for some support.  I hope you will be able to help me take action!

Powerful Community of Women

I think the community of women is a lot like rain. There is a little drip here and another there--almost unnoticed. And then there is a puddle, a creek, a stream, a rushing river, and powerful ocean wave that can move anything. It all starts with just a little drip. It can nourish and enrich a little seedling or move an entire mountain. This, to me, is the powerful community of women.

Saturday was another Brave Women's Breakfast. I was so struck by what I'm learning about community with women.

I'm learning. . .

It's more about the intention than how many people show up.
It's crazy how much we have to share with each other. The whole is definitely greater than the sum of the parts.
It's surprising how similar our stories are, regardless of age, places we've lived, income, etc.
We can do things with the support of other women we could never do alone on our own.

Every time we meet I feel inspired and supported by other women--so powerful

We've started hiking the Buckeye Trail--a 1,400 mile trail all around Ohio. We've finished about 1 1/2 miles! I can't wait to see how far we get together.

Where do you find community? How are you supported by community?

Inspired by Joy and a Toddler

I love this photo of Sam and me. It was taken this weekend as part of our Easter celebrations. It so represents how I feel about living with a toddler--at least when I have enough rest and time to think about it! Neither one of us is doing "what we're supposed to do." I could have been crazy that he wasn't doing what he was supposed to do, but instead I've surrendered and I'm just laughing hysterically. I love that joy that only comes from really letting go.

I want a life where I can throw my head back more and laugh hysterically.

What kind of life do you want?

Frustration Turns to Inspiration

I saw this birdie on a walk I took with my little family just after school on Friday. I think he was sending me a message, but I didn't get it until the next day. It was something like this:

The motherboard on my laptop is dying. It won't work. It's my only source of Internet access. I wanted to spend my weekend time working on Brave Teachers stuff. I am frustrated--maybe even behaving like a caged animal. I finally say, "I've gotta' get out of here." I go to the universal coffee chain and pull out my magic spiral notebook!

That's when inspiration strikes, and I'm working on the originals journaling pages for my upcoming retreat workshop The Art and Soul of a Brave Teacher. I'm going to town--so creative and inspired. I hadn't even figured out how I wanted to do this, and it's magically happening, because I was frustrated by what I thought I needed to do. It's so simple, and it's spilling right out.

I'm really struck by this--how I plow ahead, feel frustrated and/or angry when I can't plow ahead, how what I think I need to do keeps me from doing what I'm really supposed to do. I think this is truly deep and profound. It's felt that way to me for the last 24 hours. It's like the universe is shouting: Stop forcing your way in the world! And so for this one brief moment I did, and I'm so pleased with the results.

Inspired by Spring Change

So here in Ohio Spring is finally deciding to show up. My daffodils are turning from green to an opening yellow, and the leaves on the trees are just ready to pop. I love this time of year. Can I really put the winter coat away and stop wearing socks? I also resist the unpredictability of it all. It's kinda' crazy--I've waited all winter, and now I'm resisting! It doesn't follow any sort of logic.

I think life is like that. Change is something that we resist. I like to think I'm more open than the average person to the unexpected, but it's still tough. I brace myself and I prepare as much as I can, and I resist just as much as everyone else. The insanity in all of this is often the change is what I've waited for--just like spring after a long winter.

Often change brings benefits so far beyond what I could expect or hope, so when will I learn that change is good? That acceptance makes any transition smoother? That I can bring calm energy to challenging and charged situations? That I can look for the beauty that is there?

How are you resisting change? What would allow you to be open to change? How has change been positive for you?

Inspired to Hear Your Heart

I read this great quote over the weekend. It was quoted by Michael Mayne in The Enduring Melody.

In his novel The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho tells a compelling
story about a young
boy who is learning to follow his heart. The boy travels
through the desert
alongside a man who is simply identified as "the
alchemist." As they journey the
boy engages in a conversation with his
heart. He learns that he, like everyone
else, has a treasure waiting for
him, and the heart's purpose is to encourage
him to seek that treasure. But
because people become preoccupied with so many
other things, they no longer
pay attention to their hearts. Only children, who
have yet to be so
distracted by life, have the ability to hear their hearts in a
clear way.
The boy learns from the alchemist that because of the pain of going
unheard,
the heart will eventually stop telling people to follow their dreams.
The
boy pleads with his heart to never stop speaking to him. Should he begin to
wander away from his dreams, he wants his heart to sound the alarm and
promises that he will hear it and follow.

Are you listening to your heart today?
What distracts you?
What is your heart telling you?

Inspired by March Snow

It snowed last Friday--it was that wet, heavy, white stuff, and hello, it was March 11. We've had plenty of snow this winter. But here's the crazy thing--it was GORGEOUS! It looked like a postcard with snow clinging to everything.

I remember a photo my dad took sometime in the 60's. Every time I saw that slide I thought the snow was gorgeous. It was that kind of snow. I wondered if I would ever look down the street and see nonstop snow on every branch. It was that sort of day.

After school, we ate an early dinner, and the boys headed outside. If you don't find joy in the snowman turned snow bunny, then maybe you should take your pulse. It's even better because this is the first time the little boy was actually adding to rather than removing snow.

It was all quite pure--unblemished, uncomplicated, unsophisticated and simple. While I wasn't thinking that snow would inspire me in March, that beauty did just sneak up on me as a snow bunny and fill my heart with joy.

What's your unexpected inspiration today?

Inspired By Thoughts of Spring

So it's hard to believe that about an hour after I took this photo there was a fresh new inch of snow on the ground. (I'm just grateful that the snow and ice did melt.) So I was out in our little yard looking for signs of spring, and this is what I found at the top of my young lilac bush! It does give me hope and inspires me.

I'm also inspired about some great future planning and dreaming that I've done this weekend toward supporting other teachers. More will be revealed in due time. I love it when a plan starts to take some sort of concrete shape--even if it's just in a spiral notebook.

I'm a procrastinator and a perfectionist, so those first steps are usually the hardest. I also want it all in place, now. Part of my inspirational mantra is "forward momentum." It doesn't have to be huge or monumental, but it does need to be forward.

Just like the lilac buds, my spiral notebook of working plans inspires me with hope.

What is your inspiration and hope today?

Love Is. . .

My view of love is frequently changing. I used to have great romantic ideals and fantasies. I've been quite cynical. I've moved to a hopefully simpler more accepting view of love in my life and the world.

Love is. . .

sunshine on my face
a good hug
laughter
hope
one bite of GREAT chocolate
a new idea
spontaneity
green leaves rising from the snow
smile to or from a stranger
a walk in the woods
meeting resistance
offering inspiration
seeing the first light
feeling the pain and going on
smiling in the mirror
a handwritten note
surprise visits
knowing when to keep going, and
knowing when to walk away

Inspired By Affirmations

If you're feeling down (I have been) writing out affirmations to read is a GREAT pick me up. I started this at Brave Women's Breakfast. My focus is on affirmations that will encourage and empower me as a teacher and in my classroom.

It's super simple. . .

• I took some different shaped chipboard cards--some I painted and some I left plain.
• I collected some affirmations and wrote them on the cards
• I connected the card with a ring and added a little ribbon

Now I can add more or move them around!

Here are a few of my faves:

• I feel the joy of teaching today!
• I am enough. I do enough.
• I am a confident, encouraging, and motivating teacher.
• I motivate and encourage my students in every possible way!

What are the things you say to yourself when you're not feeling inspired?

Inspired By My Flaws

So I have all the usual human foibles and desires, and then some. I want to be liked, valued, and respected. I want to have hair that doesn't frizz. I want to feel good about the work I do, both personally--for myself and little family and professionally--for my students, their families, my coworkers, school district, and other teachers. I want to wake up and magically be thinner and prettier. I am broken and human. I have overwhelming weakness and flaws. Part of me thinks this is all very superficial. Actually those are the surface desires. There is more underneath.

But the deepest longing is to just be genuinely satisfied with myself, as I am. Loving that girl. Even with my flaws. Even the flaws. I want to believe that even with my imperfections other people can see the good I do and the good I am. That I am enough. That I am a gift.

It's often easy to see my strengths, but what about my weaknesses? Can they be an asset and not just a liability? For the first time in my life I'm starting to say yes. It has me really off balance. It's also propelling me forward--into unexplored territory. In an unexpected way I am being inspired by weakness.

There are pockets of my life that will never value weakness. How do I survive there? Or do I need to step away? How do I respond to the discomfort?

So today I am celebrating I am a flawed and weak gift. I am inspired by the potential of nurturing and caring for the complete package that is me.

How are you inspired by yourself?

Inspired by Sam

This little fellow is going to be 2 years old on Sunday. We are celebrating with fuzzy monsters and family.

I know people ALWAYS say this, but I can't even tell you how different life is from what it used to be. Here are some of the ways I am inspired today by Sam.

• A profound curiosity about EVERYTHING. (I want to protect that as long as I can and foster it in myself.)
• Energy and Joy--how can one little boy have so much?
• Protecting time--because of him I can't give away all my time to others
• Passage of time--racing forward (Weren't you just born yesterday?) and the profound capacity to stand still in some sacred phenomenon
• Satisfaction with the simple--Elmo slippers were the best Christmas present!
• Stealth art ninja moves--These allow Sam to connect any brush with the nearest liquid in a nanosecond. It also makes me smile
• Don't take yourself too seriously--I think those should have been the first words out of his mouth!
• Be present--wherever you are, just be all there.

I'm sure there are loads more inspiration points for me, but time is fleeting. I do feel inspired and blessed when I think of the profound impact and different choices I've made in the past couple years.

What's inspiring you today?

Inspired. . .By a Dream

…I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream...

~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963

You can watch the whole speech here. It's difficult to wrap my brain around the fact that when Dr. King spoke those words in front of the Lincoln Memorial he was in his early thirties. He had such vision. And the influence.

I'm thinking of some ways he influenced me:

• Seeing today as a day to focus on community service
• Serving in Americorps for 2 years in the middle of a teaching career
• Marching and carrying a sign that says, "Speak Truth to Power Now," with Dr. King's face on it
• Struggling with my own racial beliefs and experiences
• Taking training through The People's Institute
• Confirms my belief in the power of education to empower people and change society

I wonder what could have been done if he had lived longer. And in many ways I'm inspired to ask how much more could/should I be doing with my life?

How does Dr. King's influence touch your life today?

Inspired by Action

So my personal view of the world is surprisingly optimistic for the time of year when I usually feel like hibernating. What could be the reason(s)? I am inspired by my own humble action and the results that are beyond what I imagine or hope.

I'm also reminded about how much pretty things inspire me. It doesn't have to be big or expensive or fancy. Little hand written cards. A pretty plastic tablecloth. a ribbon tied around a handle. The flicker of a candle's flame.

This is some of what is inspiring me today. What is inspiring you?

Inspired by Christmas

Lots of years I arrive at this point, and I feel like all my creative juices have been spent on Christmas stuff. This year is different. Here are some of the things that have left me very inspired this season:

• Holiday lights through the eyes of a child
• Time in the Hopeful World Class--POWER-FULL
• Berry Christmas Granola
• Elmo slippers being a most loved gift
• Heifer Project being the best gift I honored people in giving
• Our little family's new tradition: A birthday party for Jesus
• Reminiscing by making (and eating) my mom's fudge and fruitcake recipes
• Planning the first Brave Women's Breakfast
• Watching Santa Claus is Coming To Town and Frosty
• Having a little boy who hearts snowmen in a BIG way!

What is inspiring you today?

Inspired by Music and Fruitcake That Are Mine

So my day has not turned out the way I expected at all. I thought I was taking a personal day to get some end of the year stuff done, but instead it was a snow day. It's odd how different the weather impacts my life when I don't watch TV weather--no TV means none of the weather panic.

I've been inside baking all day. I've been making the infamous fruitcakes that have to be made. I feel like it honors the memory of my mom, and the smell from my oven whisks me instantly back to my childhood.

While baking I was listening to Christmas music. I LOVE gospel music, so one of my favorite Christmas recordings is the soundtrack to The Preacher's Wife, a 1996 remake of The Bishop's Wife. I was really struck today by these words from Step by Step:

And this old road is rough and ruined
So many dangers along the way
So many burdens might fall upon me
So many troubles that I have to face

Oh, but I won't let my spirit fail me
Oh, I won't let my spirit go
Until I get to my destination
I'm gonna take it slowly cuz I'm making it mine

I feel Christmas panic about how we aren't doing our fantasy or anyone else's fantasy this year. I'm trying to make my way in the world and discover what I'm really supposed to being doing. I was so inspired by the line about taking it slow because I'm making it mine. I'm going to hold onto that when people are opening Christmas presents and I feel very inadequate. I'm going to hold onto it when I'm trying to support students in personal respect and responsibility. I can take it slow. I can make it mine. That is enough.

Inspiration for Courage

I love it when a word just haunts my life. I often pick a new word for each new January, but I must say that this December has a word that I'm seeing everywhere. That word is. . .COURAGE.

I must confess, it also makes me really nervous. What am I going to be asked to do? Is this word going to give me a gentle nudge or will it shove me off a cliff. Courage doesn't seem like the gentle nudge type.

What word is inspiring you?

Inspired by the Season of Advent

On the way home from church yesterday Virgil said, "I sure wish we could spend less time running around for Christmas and more time with the people we care about." My question is, "Why can't we?" Why can't we just put on our little mittens and little boots and wait at the door for what comes to us?

Why can't advent be a time to share simple experiences with people we love? Why does it have to be packed with stores and parking lots and waiting in line and insecurities about our gifts not being enough? I'm pretty sure it is because fear and expectation dominate the season.

In my spiritual tradition the 4 weeks before Christmas are intended as a time to slow down and simplify and make more room in our lives for Christ. What happened to that? Why aren't we sharing simple meals with people we care about? Why aren't we simplifying our life by giving from our abundance to those with need? Allowing listening to Christmas music be more than background noise?

I hope those thoughts and questions stay at the forefront of our thinking this year and hold our fears and expectations in check. What is inspiring you today?

Inspired by Fall White

I was really struck while walking this weekend at how much "winter white" appears at this time of year. I've always thought that was a funny term for the off white creamy color. I could not believe how much of it I saw--dried grasses, leaves, seed pods, tree bark. It felt like it was everywhere, and I enjoyed and was inspired by it.

Inpired by Faith and Love

I think this week is going to "get back to normal." But I'm already behind. I feel like the gun is about to go off to signal the start of the race, but I'm not even on the track.

My writing has been sporadic because of the busy--ness of life, but I've also been drained. There is no refill in sight. I've been thinking about and carefully looking around for some cool refreshment.

A couple things have jumped out at me. Neither is a life changer--more of a mindset changer. The first one is the word "faith." I've been finding it in the most unexpected places--in artwork, non-spiritual writings, etc. hmmm.

And then there is this phrase that I just love and cling to, "LOVE ALWAYS WINS." Isn't that just beautiful? If I were going to get a tattoo tonight, it would be those words. I just love that. It fills me with hope.

I really do have faith that love does always win. I'm kinda' clinging to that tonight--for myself, for my little family, for my job, and for the future. The problem is I want love to win right now. It doesn't work that way! I guess I wouldn't need faith if it did.

What's inspiring you today? What are you clinging to?