May the LORD grant all your requests. (Psalm 20:5b NIV)
Thoughts and ideas and inspiration crackle through her soul, like a roaring bonfire.
Quotes and words and sentences stack up, like a cord of wood stored next to the house to stave off winter’s inevitable cold.
She wants to express herself. But first she must gather some kindling. Some books, her journal, a specific one that at the moment is hidden right where she left it. She can’t find her favorite pen. How can a pen get lost so easily? She has numerous pens, but this is the one she wants, right now. She sighs and picks up a different pen.
She carries the pen and her journal, not the one she was looking for, but the one that will suffice. She brews her second cup of coffee, to savor this day at home. A rare chance in an otherwise, surprisingly full life. She prints off the four days of the journal prompts, which she hadn’t completed yet, from FIRE: A 30 Day Journal Project.
Having collected pen, journal, coffee and prompts, she gathers herself into the quiet space of the morning, where her heart has longed to rest for so many days, these past few weeks. She hasn’t really been facing any big crisis, but she resonates with the first quote she reads:
If you’re going through hell, keep going. (Winston Churchill)
The prompt, she was to complete was this one:
In as few words as possible, the particular hell that I am in . . .
She responds, and startles herself by writing, “between adventures.” Her inner critic starts to say, “that’s a silly hell to be in.” But she writes through the taunts of the inner voice:
Between is both frustrating and necessary…what helps me keep going is that between gets me to the next adventure, between is a rest stop, a place to recharge. Fighting between is futile.
Writing through helps her to come to this conclusion:
I have learned how to survive and press on through hellish times. I’m grateful for tough times. I grew in confidence, I learned to ask for help …I’ve learned it’s OK to retreat when it’s really tough, when you are between…
She remembered yesterday, when she and her friend kept bumping up against annoying obstacles. She missed the turn to the trail head, where they planned to run. At the trail head, the section to get to the flat terrain was closed, so they had to run on the rolling hills, and despite aches and pains, they persevered.
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. (Albert Schweitzer)
Whether it’s running towards a goal together, or supporting each other through a crisis, our lives are sweeter and stronger, when we spark each other to keep going.
A desire to spark creativity in others gathers in her soul, so she writes words, or quotes a quote or shares a link from those who have inspired her recently.
Here are a couple sparks to rekindle your creative fire today:
Diana Trout wrote a book about art journaling called Journal Spilling. Here are some videos about her realistic approach to “organizing” her supplies.
Wrangle Your Collage Fodder by Diana Trout
This video by PackerDi inspires me to keep going with my collage passion and to stoke the fires of my vision.
How are you going to keep going today?
souldare 
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