We Are Winter Poets

Inspire

Good morning friends,

Here’s a thing you’d really only know about me if you knew me personally: I loathe math, and I’m really not great at it. Numbers get to me, where words feel like home.

So now that you have this knowledge you should know that somewhere along the way I counted something wrong and here we are at the real day nine and we also have tomorrow, the 30th, for our last day. So, yay! We get an extra day that we actually had all along but now it feels special!

See? Math, right?

Now, onto words (and if you’re one of the math people, thank you for your service to the world)!

Today’s word is inspire.

The season’s changes are meant to inspire us, I truly believe that. And as ironic as it may seem, even the deep cold of winter, as such an introspective time, should inspire us, too. Hibernation brings deep rest and helps us ask more deeply what rest should mean to us, and what the coming spring will show us.

So, let’s be inspired.

I’ll share 2 definitions, and one of them is obvious but feels really special.

First: fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

And second, of course, to breathe in (air); inhale.

We practice inspiration by our very breath. I think that’s something to sit with.

Photo by Tommy Lisbin on Unsplash

Photo by Katrina Wright on Unsplash

Inspire

What amazes me is that it could be any little thing,

the way we watch an ant scurry across the sidewalk,

the laughter of a child in the booth next to ours,

one portrait in an art gallery full of masterpieces,

a seemingly meaningless line in the middle of a book.

It can happen anywhere, anytime, and we are never ready.

Inspiration is one of the most magical parts of being human,

when we find that we are capable of more because the universe tell us.

So, what inspires you, and where do you find yourself?

What moments have you paused in time because they caught you?

When did you notice a sharp intake of breath and a tear in your eye?

When did you smile because you couldn’t stop, and the world changed?

When did you realize that you, too, are an inspiration?

At any moment, someone is watching you, noticing, seeing you laugh,

reading something you wrote, listening to your voice, and they are

taking it with them on their own journey, letting your presence

inspire them, guide them to creating the better world we all need.

Be inspired, friend, but never be afraid to inspire.

The beauty of the world depends on it.