Inspiration

"I learned... that inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic striving, but it comes into us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness." Brenda Ueland

What inspires you?

Is it rays of sun light beaming from behind a cloud? A photograph? The pitter-patter of little feet? A specific person or piece of art?

This morning on my way to work I could tell rain had fallen during the hours of darkness that had very recently changed to light. As I drove down the highway I could see fog in the distance. I was reminded of the sunrise the L-rd had on display as I drove through northern Missouri on my way home from Canada. Not only was the sky tinted with a warm orange glow, but a sea of fog covered the fields for miles in every direction with the treetops peaking out to be warmed by the sun. The most breathtaking sunrise I have ever seen. (One of my desires as a photographer is to take amazing pictures of a scene like I just described.) I don't know what it is about fog covered ground, but it is one of the things that excites me.

The star infested sky, highly contrasted black and white photographs of mountains, the Aurora Borealis, laughter, rainbows, lions (The Great Lion), story, friendship, French decor, Mandarin script (China), storms, an evening run, seeing a butterfly on its journey, the wind, the violin, cello, (ok, an orchestra in general), trees, calligraphy, rainy days, crisp autumn air, the incomprehensible love, justice, and mercy of HaShem, spontaneity, the list of what inspires me goes on and on and sometimes I am introduced to something else that causes the same stirring within me. Not every item on this list yield the same levels of inspiration. Often times how I am impacted depends on my current mood. Nevertheless, the existence, and presence, of the L-rd is clearly portrayed throughout the earth. The one true Source of all that inspires.