What Inspires Me

Beauty is inspiring. When I lived in Oklahoma, I looked forward to the crocus flowers poking up out of the frosty ground, saluting the coming of spring. It was something to look forward to when I was down on my knees doing something many people love, that I hate.. having my hands in the dirt, planting bulbs, and pulling weeds. I am not a gardener! But I knew that I would relish in my work many months later when those flowers bloomed. It always amazed me that something so beautiful could pop-out of an ugly bulb, or that a thorny bush could produce such precious, delicate petals as those of a rose.

Several weeks ago, my husband was working on the landscaping of a house he is flipping, and there were these long, dried sticks popping out of the ground, and I said, “just yank that ugly thing!’ Leo looked at it and then at me and said, “I think these things produce flowers. I’m gonna leave if for now.” Well, he was right. You can see the “stick” produced.

If you look around, if you are patient, you will see beauty all around you. I, personally, experience beauty every single day. Today, it was in the form of a conversation I had with our oldest son, Jake. It was a philosophical conversation about a subject that he has been struggling with and he has been consuming all the literature he can on the issue. We talked for two hours. I was really busy and wanting to get back to the article I was writing, but it hit me… “My son is twenty and he wants to spend time talking to his mom, and he is so handsome,” and I smiled at him. He kept talking and I wanted to pick him up and spin him in a circle like I did when he was a baby. I love him so much I almost had to restrain myself. But I told him that I love him and that I am happy because I have him to love. I have so many people I love. I am so blessed. ​

Beauty can fade. Petals fall. Plants go dormant, but love— love gives me wings, feeds my soul, gives me true purpose. What would life be without love? I am inspired by love.

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