Category: inspiration

By many standards, I spent a lot of time outside in 2013. I rode my bike to work often, trained for and ran two races and kept the regular habit of walking the dogs a mile or two per day. But still, I spent a lot of time sitting at a desk, or on my couch.

Exhibit A: 2013 pie chart – indoor + sitting time v. outdoor time

Searching the sum of 2013 for the times I found the most joy, these are the moments that come to mind:

Clockwise, from top left: making rainbows in our garden; my favorite outdoor dining spot, Locally Grown Gardens; a bike ride along the Canal Towpath; the 6:30 a.m. sky on a particularly lovely morning run.

Exhibit B: What I wish for 2014 – I think I can up my game a bit.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “What do you want your life (or your kitchen, your job, your ____) to look like? Create your own inspiration board.”

The other night, after much tossing and turning, I gave in and got up out of bed. I wanted to see why things seemed so bright. There was so much light pouring in through the windows at the back of the house, I thought there must be someone working in the alley, a car idling with their brights on, something.

But, no. It was just the moon.

It’s hard to share just exactly how captivating that midnight moon was. In a half-tired state, I grabbed my camera for a mini-photo shoot to try to capture its beauty. This photo doesn’t do it justice.

A couple of things:

1. The moon will never look just like that again. Isn’t that a wonderful thing to consider?

2. Standing there in my pajamas and house shoes on my back deck, snapping away in the iciness of twenty degrees, snow on the ground and icicles overhead, I felt truly alive. This is the type of moment that reminds me I still have it. That old fire to discover, to experience, to create. Even when it isn’t easy or comfortable. Even when nothing to show comes of it.

That feeling. That’s the keepsake of that midnight oil.

I’ve been here before. Standing at the end of the sidewalk of another year, thinking how fast time vanishes and how little I have to show for it.

In work and volunteering, I’m very driven toward excellence. I don’t always achieve it, but in the process I give much of myself (energy, time). The sum of that effort has often left me falling short on more personal goals and pursuits. At the end of long days and weeks, it’s quite easy to deserve relaxation and forgo all other priorities.

Understanding the balance of discipline and creativity.
I’ve seen the fruit discipline bears this year more than any other, namely in the pursuit of health. Think Kit, too, has had a hand in this realization that’s been in the making for the last six months. Looking back on this and the last 30 posts, not all are created equal. While there are a few I’d gladly scratch from the blog, more powerful that that: I can write and create daily.

Discipline. Why have I resisted you so thoroughly for so long?

I’ve prized chaos, surprise, even random luck. I’ve frowned at a life too scheduled, convincing myself structure equals rigidity, fearing discipline would snuff out any chance for surprise and delight.

I’ve declared I could never get “facing of the page” to work for me. I’ve long given myself the excuse in the form of rally cry, Let us all be enjoyers of things!

I admit it with some shame: I believed with such fervent folly that one day I’d just wake up and create something miraculous. When I read the words of wisdom from writers and artists of yore about their discipline, I always thought, Bah! I don’t believe in that. I can’t sit down to write or draw or make things when I don’t have an idea, without that initial spark of inspiration.

It’s taken a lot of life changes and the wisdom granted with another passing year to get here. Most of us are not gripped by madness at 3 a.m. one random morning, and continue working day and night for three weeks straight to publish the great American novel with barely an edit. This is the more rare thing.

Creativity might be fed from some unknown forces, yes. It sometimes springs forth, all mysterious, dark and seductive. Once it appears in this way, it’s easy to be deceived, to believe it will just appear again and again, and good work will follow.

But no. It’s the ones who get up early, or reserve the hours before bed, who find a way to commit time and keep focus who look back on their year and feel satisfaction in their body of work.

Feeding creativity isn’t as tricky as I credited. It isn’t so dark or secret, it’s there for the taking by any who care to make space for it. It’s the flexing, just like a muscle. The commitment to doing and making, even when that creative spark seems elusive. It will come. It will come, I realize now, if I am there to meet it.

I know I’m joining a chorus of many others who have come to understand this. With one foot in 2012, and the other stepping toward 2013, I’m glad to welcome this strange new fellow, discipline. Let’s see what I can do with you.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “What are you looking forward to the most about the next 365 days?”

I’ve lived in my house for just a couple of years. From the start, it’s felt cozy and full, save above the fireplace in the living room.

For months, I stared at the blank space, dreaming about the art my husband and I would buy to hang there. We browsed at art festivals, hunted at Midland, we gallery-hopped on First Friday, and still didn’t find the right thing. I saved and spent the money for a painting to fill the void several times.

And then we found it. The one.

Contracted by Susan Hodgin

I’ve been buying art since I was in high school. Over the years I’ve acquired a couple of paintings, a handful of prints and more than my fair share of ceramic pieces.

I’ve been gripped by art plenty of times before, but this was different. This was love.

A couple of months in and it still takes my breath away when I walk through my door. This year, I learned what it feels like to be a collector.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “What new things did you learn this year?”

It wasn’t until this year that I began to understand the joy of mornings. A chronic night owl with occasional insomnia, I looked at any day requiring a 7 a.m. wake up as another dubious battle to be waged.

I got a foot in the door, or I guess out of the door, with purposeful mornings this year. For the second half of this year I didn’t miss a week of running at least two mornings. The other mornings, I spent getting a head start on work, or sifting through my often neglected Google Reader subscriptions. It was a start.

In 2013, I want to make mornings more meaningful.

More reading. And writing.
The old school reader in me still loves thumbing through pages, the smell of books, the gloss of magazines. I think I need more book store and library trips to replenish my stack of actual print material. If I want to be sure I take the time I need to write, it must be in the morning, before the barrage of email and urgency of work takes over for the day.

Better breakfasts.
Once I get invested in tasks in the a.m., I can get lost in them like no other time of the day. I get my best work done in the quiet of my home before the sun rises. Sometimes I get so focused, I lose all track of time and forget to eat breakfast until it’s too late. I’d like to explore some make ahead breakfast recipes.

Let’s get physical.
On the days that start with fresh air and getting the blood flowing, I feel more alert and focused for the rest of the day. I don’t want to run every morning, but would like to walk my dogs on the off days.

Creative mornings.
I was really inspired by the inspiration board exercise and the rush of ideas that came afterwards. The next day, I woke and made a mini painting. I won’t always have time for a major project, but a few doodles should be manageable any morning.

Why the shift?
I’m not sure what happened. I may owe this shift to this year’s focus on my health. It could be that my workplace adopted a freedom policy. For the first time I had no guilt about either sleeping in, or getting up early and designing my mornings to be just the way I like them. Maybe it wasn’t the morning so much as the rushing around and commuting that I resisted all of these years.

I’ve just scratched the surface with mornings. In 2013, I’m looking forward to filling my early hours with more purpose.

This post is part of Think Kit by SmallBox
Today’s prompt: “What new traditions do you want to start this year?”