Fits of Inspiration

Summertime comes with a joyous, resounding swell of inspirations to me year after year. Inspiration is everywhere. In the air, in the sun-struck flowers, in the smell of baking grass, in the sharp, hot pavement beneath my bare feet.

In toe rings, sunglasses, short shorts and hammocks.

In open windows and iced coffee drinks, loud music and late nights.

I can't escape it, nor do I ever want to. And the beautiful thing about this inspiration, is that it is never limited to only one outlet: writing. No, no. In the summertime I revisit my love of painting, and photography, sketching, songwriting, dancing, singing and even designing.

It's every single element of my inner artsy being drawn out and dramatized and glorified, and it makes me feel young. Youthful. I smile every day.

"Youth smiles without any reason. It is one of it's chiefest charms." -Oscar Wilde.

Yesterday I was buzzing all day long with an inescapable fit of inspiration. It was electrifying, and I was bubbly and antsy and excited all day long until I finally channeled the inspiration and set to work on one of my favorite artsy past-times: inspiration collages.

Every now and then I get the feeling I need to re-vamp my everyday source of inspiration.
There are certain things that inspire me no matter what the weather, mood or day looks like. These things are my black and white canvas photo of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's that hangs above my desk, my dragonfly garden lights that hang around my vanity mirror. My goldfish. My black and white photographs of Michael Corleone, my grandmother on her wedding day, Barbra Streisand. I can garner inspiration from these anytime that I want, but that's not always enough to keep the writing fresh and lively and driven towards new depths.

So I take a few hours and gather some magazines, spend a long time googling images and printing them off, go through old mementos, stickers, dried flowers, notes, etc. And I put together a new collage of things that challenge me to go further, to press boundaries, to

beat myself and the last piece I wrote. Things that challenge me everyday to live life the way I desperately want to.

That's what I did yesterday, and I have to say, I am overwhelmed with love for the result.

A few months ago, I started a board strictly for pictures of places that I want to travel to someday, and yesterday I added to it. I loosened the boundaries of landscape photographs to anything and everything that goes along with these places.

I sat at the computer for an hour and a half and typed the most random things into Google Images and found the most fabulous results.

"Vintage posters." "Banjo art." "Mustaches." "Mermaids." "Wellies." "Indian Ashrams." "Glass jars."

Everything that has ever triggered my imagination, I try to put somewhere on these boards.

Imagination is the greatest gift we have as writers, artists, poets, musicians, dreamers.

Without imagination the world would still be stuck in the dark ages. And the most important thing to remember is not to limit your imagination.

I've been on this huge kick lately about mermaids, and magical creatures, and how you should never believe they're not real. Because that's limiting your imagination, and the more you limit yourself, the more unhappy you're going to be.

All the best writers say that we should forever keep a sense of childlike innocence about us.

Live every day as if you're seeing the most common of occurences as the most miraculous experiences. Every day, view the world through the wide, starry eyes of a child. Because everything around you truly is a gift, a miracle, an incredible happenstance of wonder. Jesus Christ even said that "those who do not receive the Kingdom of God like a child, will not enter it at all." (Mark 10:15)

And what do children believe? They believe in magic. And miracles. Fairies, Neverland, Mermaids, Dragons, Wood Nymphs, Unicorns, Narnia ......

Take Narnia for instance. C.S. Lewis is hands-down one of the greatest Christian authors of all time, and he created a magical world for children; let's be honest, it wasn't only created for children, but for adults as well. How could he create something he didn't believe in? I don't believe he did. I firmly believe that he found truth and light and faith in creating this amazing magical ethereal place, because he had what everyone should have: an unlimited imagination.

So why shouldn't I believe in mermaids and fairies?

I do. If I didn't, everything I believed and stood for and loved in my childhood would be dead.

You're never too old to stop believing.

That's why there's a picture of a mermaid on my board, for inspiration. But it's also just a reminder to never grow all the way up. To never lose sight of imagination and what really matters, which is to always have faith in the impossible. Because I believe that's where God loves to reveal His plans to us the most. That's His realm of reaching us. And that's why we have to come more than just halfway, because if we don't believe, we don't receive.

I also found the most amazing picture as I was looking up images of Indian Ashrams.

It's of a small plaque at the entrance to an Ashram somewhere in the foothills of India, that says in big white letters " Love. Give. Purify. Meditate. Realise."

I was struck. Suddenly I wanted so badly to paint my own entrance sign just like it, except for the fact that I would exchange the word "Meditate" for the word "Reflect" because Meditate is not my favorite word, and I think Reflect captures our duties as Christians very well, and it sounds less Eastern and Buddhist..... ;)

This small picture is at the very center of my board, and it's one of the most inspiring pictures I have. It resides next to a photo of an old brick building in the heart of Derry City in Ireland, with a mural blurting "LONDONDERRY WEST BANK LOYALISTS STILL UNDER SIEGE NO SURRENDER." And on the other side is a picture of a beautiful woman doing a beautiful Bikram yoga pose on a beautiful beach and the essence of the picture screams "Simple balance."

Which is something I think I need in my life.

Among the other pictures on my board, I have a vintage poster of an antique bicycle that says
"Simplicity is the key to successful living."

A gorgeous photograph of a row of apartments in New Orleans' French Quarter.

The Fountain in the Court of the Lions at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. Somewhere I want to travel to very, very much.

A picture that says "I heart" with a picture of a fabulous handlebar mustache underneath.

The skyline of Jerusalem.

A postcard my Grandma Annie sent to my family before I was born of a beautiful castle she visited in Germany, where I plan to go to someday to gain another experience of feeling close to her.

An enchanting picture of vibrantly colored and heavily adorned Balinese women and children in a street celebration.

A joker from a deck of cards brought back to me from Las Vegas by my Grandma Ilene.

A row of crayola colored sheds in Cape Town.

A vintage photo of a stockpile of banjos, all thrown together and worn out and rustic.

A "Lovely Day for a Guinness" poster and my hometown bumper sticker blaring "KEEP PORTLAND WEIRD!"

It's not completely done yet, I have many more things to add to it, but right now I love it just the way it is.

The inspiration is pealing out in loud waves of fresh material!

And next to it, is a card I recieved from my soul sister which says, "She dreams of mermaids and motorcycles and meeting a man who can dance... This is the employment my soul delights in."

And with that I leave you.

Wishing you all the imagination and chocolate chips in the world!!

Love,

Hannah