I’m Surrounded by Love

Inspiration keeps escaping me, for one reason or another. I’ll begin by saying I’ve been a bit under the weather, lately. It might be allergies, it might be the time of year, it might be that I need a break. Whatever the reason, I’m trying to take a break because I believe the body knows how to do what the body needs to do and sleep and rest are the best nurses. That is what I have been told. The body does know .. so much more than we give it credit for. As for sleep and rest being the best nurses, maybe. Though I have known the company of some, in times of illness, that the thought of would challenge that consideration.

Love. Love is the best nurse. Where was I reading … I was reading that when a man has a heart attack, his ability to recover is powerfully linked to the measure of love he feels in his life. Hmmm. .. I learned this in college as I was studying Mass Communication – be careful where you choose your reading from. Be careful for this reason: you are sure to remember what you read but unlikely to recall which source.

Anyway, I’m surrounded by love. That part is easy. I have had little energy, that part is a challenge. My youngest child, Clive, has been a little under the weather, too, but not so much as me. He still has plenty of energy. He has plenty of energy but is so sweet and good and kind and he knows we need to rest to get better. It has been a very quiet weekend. I have had a few surges of creativity but no means with which to convey them to canvas or writing. Part of the deal of having a quiet weekend is that Clive gets the computer more than usual. When inspiration has come, I have not been fully able to get to the blog.

I could try to recreate the moments, but there is something dynamic in inspiration when you can focus immediately and nearly exclusively on the story to get it together. There is something in that communication, that firey intensity within which the story is more clear, in which the painting is more clearly conveyed. But it can’t always be that way. We can’t always drop everything because inspiration comes knocking. I see a purity in it, a purity in pureness of the message. I choose not to drop everything when inspiration comes knocking. My art might be better for it, but my life would not be. And, ultimately, my life has a lot to do with my creativity.

I look at my life and I see that my creativity has a lot to do with the people around me that I love. I look at my life and I make a choice. I choose people, I choose relationships, I choose love. Our lives are here to bless other people. Sometimes that’s through a product, like art, though more often it is in the sometimes seemingly mundane experiences of our lives we are making the most difference. Go forward, live your life. Make a difference in someone else’s life just by being there .. by being authentically you.

c.s.