4/19/11

My Inspiration Journal

Hey everyone.  I hope ya'll are havin' a great week so far.  It's starting to warm up pretty fast around here -- we were already in the high 90's last weekend.  I know, YIKES!  We are all starting to think about moving indoors, just as all of you are throwing open the windows & doors.  Even so, we are die-hard desert dwellers;  and as long as they continue to make sunscreen & moisturizer, we will survive!!!

I have just started to do some clearing out in my sewing/craft room & ran across something I have been wanting to share.  It's my Inspiration journal.

What is "inspiration" & what does it mean?  Well, according to the dictionary:

inspiration  

in·spi·ra·tion

     
[in-spuh-rey-shuhn]  –noun
1.
an inspiring or animating action or influence: I cannot write poetry without inspiration.
2.
something inspired, as an idea.
3.
a result of inspired activity.
4.
a thing or person that inspires.
5.
Theology .
a.
a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul.
b.
the divine quality of the writings or words of a person so influenced.
6.
the drawing of air into the lungs; inhalation.
7.
the act of inspiring; quality or state of being inspired. 



Inspiration, for me, is something that makes me take an action.  That action can come in many forms.  A beautiful scene might make me smile or give a little gasp, both actions showing pleasure.  A magazine page of the perfect room will probably make me giggle with glee & say "YES, I can create this!"  I'm also very inspired by many of the "Self-Help" books & tapes.  I'm not saying that I'm so gullible that I BITE on any & everything.  I have a good filtering system!  All that being said, I am most inspired by  images or pictures.  I can take those visual images, whether it's a scene, a magazine page, or on a blog, & expound on that vision in my head;  and MOST of the time, I can translate that to a drawing or written description. 

Several years ago, I decided I needed a place to keep those things that inspire me.  I remember the day very clearly, because I had been listening to one of those "self-help" tapes & the person was talking about the importance of an inspiration board.  He was talking about using it more for goals & visualizing those goals, like the kind of house you want, travel you wanted to do, that kind of thing.  Well, I do believe in the "power of positive thinking," but not to the extent he was talking about.  I did, however, really like the idea of a place to keep all those pictures & pages that get ripped from magazines.  I didn't want it on my wall -- I could have wallpapered the room with all the pages I'd accumulated.  Well, it just so happened that Michael's was having a sale that day on sketch books, & I thought that would be a great thing to use.  That's the day my "Inspiration" journal was born.


Before I started gluing in my stack of lovely ideas, I had to first decide if I wanted it to be orderly, like with labels & such.  Normally, that would be the way I'd go -- you know with my OCD!  But, I decided on random;  and that has worked so well for me.  I also "weeded" my stack before I even began the gluing process.  I had been saving things in a designated folder in my "Go To" file drawer, but now I can thumb through my book & see all the loveliness.


Some interesting things have happened since I started my Inspiration journal.  As I go back and look at older pages, I'm seeing similarities in things that I or we have actually purchased. The magazine photo of the fountain, above, was toward the front of my journal & I hadn't even looked at that page for a long time, until I was thumbing through to see what pages I wanted to share with all of you.  The fountain below is in our backyard.  Yeah, I know, I was pretty surprised, too!


I love planters like this with all kinds of different plants grouped together.  This one inspired me to do......


this one, plus several others around our yard.


On most pages, I will write notes about what I like best or how I would like to tweak the look to fit our home.


This was another one of those weird coincidences.  I refer to a few pages in this part of the book as my "Pastel Period!"  I was totally enamored with pale peach, pink, etc.  I knew I liked Fiesta Ware, but had no idea that the company was actually making new pieces or that I might be the proud owner of.......


my very own growing collection someday.


I love putting clothing outfits together, so when I see some ideas that I think might work for me (sometimes only in my dreams would it work!), then it gets ripped out & placed in my journal.


I had plans to replace a couple of light fixtures in our current house, but now I may be doing that in the new house.


I'm very inspired by all the new paint colors & how they can be combined for such loveliness.


Organization always inspires me.  This well-organized drawer inspired me to create.......


my "much less expensive" version, using poster board.



As with all things, our tastes certainly change.  Some of my pages make me stop & wonder "What was I thinking?"  LOL!!!  But, if it's glued in, it's staying & will be part of the story of how this journal has evolved.  I'm also finding, as I "age" (ouch!), I rip fewer things from those magazines.  I hope that's because of my efforts to be much more satisfied with where I am right now -- living in the present rather than always having the need to project myself into a future, better scenario.  That's something I work on every day.  

I hope you have some kind of "Inspiration" keeper.  Whether it's a board, a book, or a folder, I really believe it tells so much about us.  If you do something along these lines, please let me know or even consider doing a posting about it.  You just never know who you might inspire!

Thanks for stopping by and please come again soon.
CAS

I'm happily linking to:



9 comments:

  1. Hello Cas! I read your full article and I agree with your thoughts. I don't have an exact inspirational journal but I kept a daily planner where I write thoughts and significant things that happened to me at the end of the day. Years after, I read my entries and I find myself laughing at some of my posts too. The only problem with me is that I sometimes forget to write entries in my planner.

    I enjoyed looking at the your entries in your planner. I love the pastel kitchen and the cut out outfits too.

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  2. You have got to be one of the most organized people I know! Why haven't I thought of something like this? I think I may just start doing this. When we were building our home, I would tear out pics from different places, but always lost them. Even tho we have no plans to ever build again, it is still a good idea for when you want to change things, isn't it? Have a great one Cas!

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  3. First, I love this idea! I keep file folders with labels, but I like the idea of gluing down thoughts and looking back! I used to hate to tear magazines up...much more...get rid of them, but....this is a way to keep a piece without being on an episode of horders! P.s. Love the water bottle mailing idea! I'm about to mail out invitations in a smiliar vessel, so it was good to hear they'd mail bottles. That would have been a lot cheaper!

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  4. very cool CAS! I did something like this for homeschooling when my kids were younger! So many ideas & activities I wanted to remember!
    Now I use online pin boards to gather collections! I have just started one for our master bath re-do! Thanks for sharing this!
    Have a blessed day!

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  5. You've inspired me to begin an "inspiration journal" :) This is so great and I can't tell you how many times I've thought, "Now WHAT was it that I wanted to do on that wall?" "Or where did I see that idea?" Your journal is a work of art! I'm a new follower!

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  6. What an absolutely wonderful post! I just loved getting a peek inside your inspiration journal and also seeing how you have made so many of those dreams a reality. Can't think of a better post to link up to our Inspiration Friday party!
    :-)
    Have a blessed Easter friend,
    Vanessa

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  7. your blog is really an oasis..congrats
    http://graceolsson.com/blog/2011/04/patty/

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  8. Great idea. Thanks for stopping by my blog! I truly can't wait to see when you make a rag quilt. One follower started and has already made 3; she's a machine!

    I'm also glad you commented. I can follow your blog now too!

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I truly love to hear from you and try to respond to each and everyone. If you have "no reply blogger," I will respond in my comments section and then visit your blog as soon as I can.

Make this a great day!
Carol

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