Inspiration Everywhere!

I'm feeling quite inspired today...as a matter of fact, there seems to be creative inspiration everywhere I look!

I'm also feeling a little anxious, because I have so much to do and so little time to do it...I have to cram about three days of work into this one day, and on this day, I also have lots of other things to prepare for. Like my trip to Nashville tomorrow to attend Blissdom '10--a blogging conference where I'll learn all sorts of wonderful new things about blogging, design, etc. I'm sure I'll be quite inspired when I get there! My friend Nell is going with me, and we're leaving at 7am sharp so we can make it to our first workshop at 2:15 tomorrow afternoon at the Opryland Hotel. So there's packing to do...

My first inspiration this morning came when I watched a piece on The TODAY show about Bill T. Jones, who did choreography for 20 years in the modern dance world. At a time in his life when he could easily retire, Jones instead is directing and doing choreography for "Fela!," a show on Broadway that's getting alot of buzz...(http://www.felaonbroadway.com/). Jones told Ann Curry that he was "reinventing the wheel again and again...such is my lot." I'd like to think I'm doing the same thing. It keeps things fresh and alive! As a choreographer, Jones likes to push boundaries, to be an orginal and to be real. The theme of the play, over and over again, is originality, not artificialty. To see Ann Curry's interview with Bill T. Jones, click here:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/35217510#35217510

I was also inspired when I opened an email from Anthropologie, a store I have no apologies for loving. I've only been in two other Anthropologie stores in other cities before one opened ten minutes from my house! The person who does the displays at the store in Ridgeland is a creative genius! I'm so impressed with her work. She can turn anything--and I mean ANYTHING--into works of art. I actually enjoy just strolling the store and looking at the creative and innovative displays! And low and behold, in the online newsletter the store sends out, they talked about displays! After giving staggering statistics about the number of plastic water bottles we manage to add to landfills, and how they take 100 years or so to break down, they showed some beautiful images of displays made using flowers cut from water bottles. I was quite inspired!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anthropologiephotos/sets/72157623090264211/show/ I've mentioned in my blog before that I love the show "Man Shops Globe," on the Travel Channel. It's about Keith Johnson, a buyer for Anthropologie, and his travels around the world to seek out unique items for the store. Oh, to have that job!

Talk about inspiration...I got a new book: Art Making & Studio Spaces: Unleash Your Inner Artist: An Intimate Look at 31 Creative Work Spaces by Lynne Perrella. I'm hoping it will help motiviate me to do something to make my office and studio space more productive. This book is like eye candy for me...and all I want to do is take Every Single Thing out of my office and put only the things I need back in, one-by-one, until it's a perfectly organized, smooth running, made-for-creativity space that I can feel really good about going in every day...because right now my office looks pretty bad...

I wasn't kidding...so stay tuned. I'm going to block out chunks of time all next week to work on this project, and I'll keep you posted. You may just be inspired to do the same!

Finally...I want to share with you that at my highest weight ever, and old as the hills, I've been featured prominantly on the cover of a magazine. http://www.porticojackson.com/ But, despite all working against him, photographer Josh Hailey, managed to make me look OK-ish. I think it's because I'm loving on Nicole, who in my eyes, is a miracle and a gift from God. This month's PORTICO Jackson magazine has an article called "Nicole's Story." And although her story has been written time and time again over the last year and a half, this article tells it from some unique perspectives--mine, Larry's, Joseph's and Nicole's. It was a difficult article to write, but cathartic at the same time. I read it last night (I always like to see my words in real print!) and it was just as difficult for me to read, but at the same time, it reminded me of how far Nicole has come, how strong we are as a family unit and it gives me confidence that we can handle with grace whatever life has in store for us. 

I won't be blogging again until Monday (unless we do some in our classes at the blogging conference...). Until then, look for inspiration in your surroundings and in the words of Bill T. Jones, "I want to say to the world: Take a solo! Go for it! Whatcha got?!"

Blessings to all who read this!

Susan