What the Quiet Has Inspired
February 27, 2012
{A sneak peek at the cards I’ve created for the Desire to Inspire Inspiration Deck Card Swap.}
I am here in a moment of quiet. Laundry running, dishes put away, my husband’s shirts folded, Tilda fed, plans for dinner ~ takeout pizza from here ~ arranged. It is no longer daytime but not quite evening and, for us wimpy Santa Monica dwellers, it is quite chilly outside. Having threatened rain all day but not really delivered, the sky has a strange brightness to it beyond its grayish-pinkish tones. I hear only the sound of my own breath, the soft tap of my fingers on the keyboard, and the occasional click of the mouse. Other than that ~ perfect stillness.
These tiny moments of nothingness have become precious beyond words. Life has been beautifully full, but the near-constant flurry of activity has made checking in on this blog in a quieter way a bit of a challenge. By quieter I mean unrelated to book activity, online events, guest posts, and the like. All of those are wonderful things to share ~ and, wow, there has been so much goodness to share ~ but I have also been wanting to just come here, say hello, and share a few simple thoughts or ideas or dreams or questions. I have wanted to sit in a circle and just share the space, just be with our thoughts, just exist in a pocket of time that requires nothing more of us than whatever we are in that moment.
I have wanted to share that seeing my granddaughter Faryn smile makes my heart almost burst out of my ribcage.
I have wanted to hold a few moments of prayer for all the ways my family is struggling and all the ways we are soaring.
I have wanted to ask you how the year is unfolding for you, and do these days feel like they are slipping through your fingers as quickly as they are for me? I turned down the opportunity to have a solo show this fall because I knew September would be here next week.
I have wanted to know what has inspired you most today, what you are looking forward to most tomorrow.
I have wanted to ask you what it is you feel is missing from your life, or do you feel like everything is as it should be?
I have wanted to try to express how grateful I am for all the kindness and joy and celebration that has been offered to me since the release of Desire to Inspire. I have wanted to tear down the Hollywood sign and rebuild a THANK YOU ten times as big.
I have wanted to share my current reading list, and find out what’s on yours.
This is what the quiet has inspired in me this evening ~ curiosity, and gratitude, and a deep, soft breath.
I was thinking about you yesterday. Since BE BOLD IN THE DREAMS YOU DREAM FOR YOURSELF is stationed, like a good-word-soldier, immediately under my raised keyboard.
I remembered back to the time we first communicated when you were bringing swirly to the national stage. I held the impressions tenderly that I remembered: the sincerity, freshness and sheer hope and fun that I found in your work. Looking at your work, then, was a cross between eating cotton candy (just made, still warm) at a really cool county fair and walking through a wildflower garden. Then my thinking of you went to how you’ve moved and morphed through a whole range of color and form and have found a deep resonant artful expression in the world of Word(s).
And they are all symbol and form. Really. Words. Shapes. Communicating with color. They are symbols we line up and organize and say, “See? Here. I made this for you.”
I love reading your questions from your quiet and am happy to answer some of them with memories that I enjoyed just yesterday.
And, while there are many things that would make my life so much slippery-slickery-easier, I am happy to tell you that I’m not missing anything. Not. One. Thing. I have enough. And, more significantly, I am enough. And that’s the best news I’ve got for you!
mary anne
just a quick note to tell you to read “before I go to sleep” by s.j. watson. I couldn’t put it down! happy tuesday! ciao!
* Big, deep, peaceful breath *
That’s what this post brought alive in me.
I love the quiet, and I love the thoughts and questions and conversations that emerge from the quiet. I also love sharing those moments with others.
So here, in this space, I felt invited and embraced. Thank you. xo
Not only are your posts beautiful to look at but they are also beautiful to read. This post reminds me that I need to find my quiet… My thoughts need quiet time so they can grow.
Can’t wait to get your new books!
Gorgeous cards! I was on your webinar last week and LOVED your comments about using the quiet! I tend to work the same way!
SO, after such a lovely quiet post, I can’t help but wonder…what is on your reading list lately?
Thank you for being a gift to your world (and mine).
Goodness me – beautiful cards, writing AND comments. Wow. Wow. Wow.