Walking for Inspiration

I went outside for a walk today to find some inspiration.
Words jumbled and jostled around in my head without participation.

Not being inspired, I surely felt like a lump.
Motivation was begging for a pump.

Who and when, what and why ~ the wording would not come.
So out to the street to visit with neighbours instead of sitting home.

It’s a futile task to stare at the page without a magic wand.
My wander outdoors was a coffee break, my book and journal in hand.

Reading and watching passersby, a frame penned for unruly thoughts,
then to the store, tossed a busker a coin, and a litre of cream I bought.

Home again, the page still blank, I’ve yet to copy my words.
Done this evening for sure, so tonight my rest is assured.

“Writing is a struggle against silence.”

~ Carlos Fuentes

Simply Medicine

Bright eyes and pleasant demeanor
Dark hair pulled back, smooth and shining
A stethoscope pulled from a brightly coloured bag
Curious and willing to learn from nurses and her physician mentor 

Orienting young nurses not an uncommon experience for me in my addictions nursing career
once in a while the opportunity arises to share my nursing knowledge and experience ~
welcome young doctors into this fascinating world of substance affected brain chemistry.

It was an inspiring morning working with this young ‘almost a doctor’
Her professional career just beginning with a sincere purpose driven interest in a world shadowed by stigma. Motivated by curiosity to care for people and any presenting medical problems, treating substance withdrawal with protocols, patience and kindness.

“We cannot change what we are not aware of, 

and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.”

~ Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

Passing Flatness

The prairie’s passing flatness is full and broad,
glittering white in frigid winter, with unruly stalks of weed and grain still standing
plowed fields in warming spring, furrows plowed deep awaiting seed
quilted landscape stitched with fence posts and scrub brush in hazy summer
golden grains rustle and nod in autumn’s embrace
glorious skies host sunshine, cloud and meadow larks
thunderstorms roll, dramatically flinging drenching rain and hail
dusty sideroads, paved highways and power lines stretch town to town

All that flatness has inspired me to take one more step
seeing a forever distant horizon but knowing the land allows me to pass
echoing train whistles and growling tractors telling me
‘here are places to grow and there is much planting to be done’

“I like to think of landscape not as a fixed place but as a 

path that is unwinding before my eyes, under my feet.”

~  Gretel Ehrlich, “Landscape,”

Introduction to Legacy of Light (1987)

Keeping Secret

How does one talk about an inspiration that is not my personal secret to talk about?
Many secrets anonymously walk the streets of any town or city.
Tall or short, smiling and confident; parents or siblings; 
Non-descript or stunning; boring or entertaining; quiet or effusive ~
Secret stories of falling down and standing up and 
falling down and standing up again ~ how many times?
Too many to count………...
Always going full circle till balance is restored - one day at a time.
Motivated to avoid stigma?
Or just growing into normal?

“Many of the bravest never are known, and get no praise.

[But] that does not lessen their beauty….”

~ Louisa May Alcott

Discovery ~ #1

Inspired by my own words

not word crafting

revelations and reminders ~

who I was and still am

under layers of rules learned

from families, communities and workplaces

finding ways to develop core beliefs and practices

motivated by my own life

through word crafting

revelations and reminders ~

who I am and who I once was. 

“In your heart, you have a song that will change the world, 

once yougive yourself permission to sing.”

~  Vironika Tugaleva

Change of Heart

My intolerance surprises and embarrasses my heart ~
this judgment of others

A ‘nose up in the air’ attitude
stuffed away, packed tightly in a dark corner growing like a mushroom in the dark.

Confronted by this guilty secret in unexpected moments,
it must be taken out and really examined, even though inner eyes and ears are averted.

Motivated to change my attitude to one of acceptance
~ to forgive myself for being human ~
a change of heart evolves. 

“Individuals need to be willing to face truth about their 

attitudes, behaviours, even what we want out of life.”

~ Joyce Meyer

Taking Steps

Motivation moved me forward,
I stopped to take a breath;
inspired by the lives of others
my life learned width and depth.

With breath let out slowly
eyes lifted up to see
feet firmly set upon a path
chosen for whatever’s to be.

Motivation moves me forward,
I stop often to take a breath;
always inspired by others ~
life is full of width and depth.

“No matter how strange things get, know that with every breath 

you are becoming that which you have always been.”

~ Eric Micha’el Leventhal