Thursday 23 April 2015

What's Inspiring Me Lately...

Lately I’m thinking about Inspiration. The definition of inspire is to “fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.” Some synonyms for inspire include motivate, move, energize, and incentivize. (Incentivize…Is that not an amazing word?!) Inspire also means to ‘breathe in.’ I love that. As we inhale inspiration, we exhale creativity.

Based on who we are as a person, different things inspire us. For some people it may be art…the way Monet’s dashes and squiggles of paint capture the movement of light. For others, it’s sports…the players set up the play, football flies through the air, receiver catches it… touchdown! Some people are drawn to nature…hiking long distances in order to get to the top, breath in the fresh mountain air, and take in the overwhelmingly breathtaking view. Many are inspired by modern technology…anticipating the new iPhone and how it will change the way you communicate with the people in your life. I believe anything can breath inspiration into us if we let it. We’re drawn to certain things based on who we are.

It’s important to allow ourselves to be inspired. Sometimes we’re moving through life so fast, ticking off our check lists (myself included!) and we forget to take life in.

Breath in…

Inspiration fills us with the urge to do something creative.

I have always been inspired by books. What I love about books…children’s books, fiction, Christian living, theology, bible study, travel guides, memoirs, any kind of book… is that, somehow, when we read, we are let into a story that is not our own, but also is our own. As we relate to the characters or the author, we realize how much more we have in common with people than we think we do…even if they live on other sides of the world in a completely different life circumstances. Stories help us feel less alone and more like we’re in this together.

Here’s 3 books that have been inspiring me lately…

“You’re Loved No Matter What”
by Holley Gerth. The way Holley writes makes you feel like you are sitting across from her at a coffee shop. Some people may read the title and think this book is more for girls or women, but there is so much truth in it that I have been relaying to my husband. It addresses the struggle of perfectionism and the idea of learning to receive. We don‘t need to strive so hard to earn what we already have. This has created a profound change in my thinking as I’ve allowed it to permeate.

“Surprised by Motherhood”
by Lisa-Jo Baker. I love this author. The minute I started reading her book, I wished I had known about it when my baby was even younger. (I follow her blog now too and love it.) I felt like she spoke into so many areas that I have struggled in this past year as I’ve entered motherhood. There are a lot of things moms don’t talk about… like how hard it is sometimes. Why should we feel badly for saying that motherhood is hard? She helped me realize I wasn’t alone. It’s not abnormal to feel so extremely tired and I’m not the only mom who has felt worn out, exhausted, or completely lost. Motherhood changes us and this booked helped me accept that all of the changes I faced this year are completely normal.

And lastly… I love Christian fiction novels. Robin Jones Gunn is one of my favourite authors. I grew up on “The Christy Miller Series” (please buy these books for any teen girl in your life. They literally were obsessions among my girlfriends and I growing up.) There is something about the sweet, real and honest characters Robin creates that I’m drawn to. They are so relatable that I feel like I’m reading stories about my own friends. And Robin is also the person that has sparked in me a desire to start writing fiction myself.

Those are some of the books and authors inspiring me lately! Holley is inspiring me to receive from God, instead of striving to earn what I already have. Lisa-Jo is inspiring me to embrace the beauty and mess of motherhood and live in the midst of it. And Robin is inspiring me to get lost in characters and stories and to write fiction.

Receive.

Embrace.

Write.

What books are inspiring you lately?

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