Posts: Inspiration

Tree with yellow leaves reflected on water

The Layer of Harmony Underneath

Learning to trust the process

Sep 03, 2022

I’m berating myself for forgetting my earplugs. This coffee shop is noisier than I had anticipated. People’s conversations reverberate against my skin and eardrums and it’s hard to concentrate. Of course I could have stayed at home to write, but there is something about the atmosphere of a coffee shop that tugs at my writer’s mind and inspires me to show up for the craft.

Personal Development Inspiration Life Lessons Growth

a man and woman dancing contemporary

The Gift and the Curse of the Artist’s Life

Mar 19, 2021

Sometimes the words don’t come. They stubbornly refuse to show up and be tied down. Perhaps they have better places to be, other writers to visit for the day. Even in the waiting, the silence, I have to trust the process. In the mundane act of holding still, there has to be a sense of conviction that no amount of stillness is ever wasted, if done with presence and purpose.

Artist Inspiration Creativity Self-Awareness Persistence

flower buds blooming

The Barriers to Our Blooming

Lifting the weights that crush us

Jan 01, 2021

January 1st. It carries so much weight — both positively and negatively. It contains so much hope, and yet so much angst. Realistically, it’s just another day. But ideally, it can become so much more. A fresh start, a second chance, a new path forward, a do-over. We place so much expectation on this innocent day to deliver. We give it so much power. And so little room for error.

Motivation Life Lessons Inspiration Goals Self-Improvement

concrete cross adorned with florals

The Symbolism of the Resurrection

Finding renewal in lifeless places

May 01, 2019

Easter. The word conjures up themes of renewal and rebirth for me. A starting over. Not like starting a new year, but starting a new way of life, a re-envisioning of how one wants to show up in the world. This day gives me hope that what once was dead can come back to life. All the lifeless places within me get drenched with promise.

Christianity Spirituality Inspiration Jesus

crumpled yellow ruled paper

What To Do When You’ve Quit Your Creative Pursuit(s) Too Many Times

Oct 01, 2018

This is the quote I turn to when I want to write again but hesitate knowing all too well how often I’ve given it up. Or when I’m lacking creative inspiration because my muse hasn’t come around in a while. I remind myself why my endless attempts to start writing again matter. Because it’s way too easy to give up. To find something else to do.

Creativity Inspiration Dreams Artist Art

analog clock with four sides

Musings on the New Year

Jan 10, 2017

Of course I wanted this post to be extra special, meticulously polished, and deeply interesting. After all, it’s the first post of 2017. But I’m working on letting go of perfection. Such pressure a new year brings — a redo, a fresh start, a chance to begin again, or begin at all. Could it be that we humans invented the concept of time — days, months, years — because we needed a motivation to start over?

Resolutions Life Inspiration Self-Improvement Change

woman reading book while walking on the beach

Surrendering the Quest for Life Purpose

Dec 13, 2016

For most of my life, I was chasing my life purpose, with a capital P, hoping I would find it somewhere, anywhere. When it didn’t make an appearance in my hometown, I moved. When it didn’t show up in my undergraduate college, I went back for my graduate degree. When that led to one dead-end job after another, I thought surely it will surface in the self-help books I was reading along the way.

Christianity God Life Purpose Inspiration

black dog sitting in a baby swing at playground

Finding the Good in the Ugly of Life

Dec 05, 2016

"It would be an ugly life. But it would be punctuated with great bursts of exaltation. Which, as Gabe would say, is mostly like life, for anyone.” These were lines in a novel I just finished called The Breakdown Lane by Jacquelyn Mitchard. The book, to be honest, wasn’t my favorite but I felt compelled to finish it, devoted bookworm as I am.

Happiness Inspiration Life Perspective Beauty

two wooden figurines hugging

How Are You?

Nov 14, 2016

No really, how are you? How are you right now, in this precious moment? Not on the surface, not in the ‘asking-the-cashier-at-checkout’ sort of way. But deep down, underneath the layers we pile on to keep ourselves safe and protected from the grievances of the world. How is the deepest part of you feeling?

Life Feelings Christianity Inspiration

illustration of a young girl fishing in lake

Keep Chasing Your Muse

Nov 07, 2016

Creativity happens in the pause between these two moments: feeling sorry for yourself and feeling proud of what you’ve made. And these alternate pretty regularly in the cycle of a creative’s life. Take the 37 minutes prior to me starting this post. They were filled with self-pity, confusion, tears, frustration, and fear of never measuring up.

Writing Art Artist Creativity Inspiration