Sources of Daily Inspiration

 

Property of Stormberry

What inspires you day to day? Yes, that can be a strange question for some of us, as many of us wake up (at least) five out of seven days a week to the sound of the alarm clock (I actually used to have a radio-CD Player-alarm clock that broke down, so I don't even get to wake up to my favorite radio station or at least a CD I like), and go through the motions with either a blank or a black mood until that first cup of coffee that replenished our capability to pretend to be human and act as if we like people, and smile. So, what inspires us? Here are some of my old answers:

1. Not getting charged for manslaughter

2. Paying my bills

3. Working first is the only way to get retired later

Oh, yes, I can be very cranky, but that's not a secret. I didn't use to think about getting daily inspiration because I was quite busy in my life and had lots and lots of things to think about all the time. There was my job and the things that happened at the office, or there were my friends, my penpals, my plans to travel each year, my many studies, and then there were all my "pleasure times", when I decided on a whim if I wanted to take myself to have coffee, or go to the movies or simply walk around had do some shopping. I also had meetings with friends and some tended to be regular, weekly meet-ups. Then I also had my "letter writing Mondays", when I went to a coffeeshop near the office and stayed there from 17 hrs to about 21 hrs writing letters or journaling, or doing some homework. Trust me, those were often very Instagram-worthy times.

In those days I wasn't thinking about "getting inspired everyday", but then again, I guess I was being inspired every day. Yes, there was stress and there were issues, and there were days when I weren't able to deal with things the way I would have wanted to, but I had inspiration, and the kind of inspiration I needed then.

What changed? Well, in my case, this health crisis broke abd I wasn't able to do the things I used to do to find some peace of mind and break from the everydays. No more coffeeshop days, or movies just because I have the time for it. Yes, this lock down - even though we don't have a lockdown here like the one people in Europe have - pushed me and took away the kind of inspiration that used to fuel me through my days. And away from my coffeeshops, my movies, my bookstore-cycles, and my paperstore cycles, I noticed how actually packed and stressful my days are.

I tried to recreate my coffeeshop experiences - yes, those are central for me, as you can imagine from the constant repeating and referring to them - but it wasn't the music or the coffee or even trying to improvise a lounge of sorts at home: it was the fact (I believe now) that I was taking myself to a completely different environment, a place I linked with joy and great time with myself. So I have stopped trying to do my little lounges (though maybe I'll start trying them out again sometime), and decided to try out new things, different things.

I tried out morning and eventing short meditation sessions, but recently I've got a tad cranked up and things are not "flowing". I have been doing some mood journaling in my Witches' Datebook, and that helps. Now, wating a art-youtuber, a lovely lady from Britain, I saw she does this thing where she pulls a card from an oracle deck, and leaves the card out to be inspired by it through the day.

Source: Amazon.
Picture linked to product

Today, I decided to try it out. I have two: Nature's Healing Oracle and the Astrological Oracle, so just like I do it with my Tarot cards, I decided to pick one card from each. The cards I've got are the ones in the picture above.

What do they mean? Easy, this is entirely intuitive, and the point of the whole exercise is to inmerse myself in myself and whenever I feel stressed through the day, or overwhelmed, I'll look at them and think of the drawings and the meaning my spirit gives to them.

Today, the Sun card means to me that there are new beginings, and we are in front of one. The Sun shines on a new day, so we can get ahead and do something, take action and work towards bringing our dreams to reality.

Sage is a plant usually related to cleaning, spirituality, grounding, good fortune, and all that good stuff. Today I saw wisdom in this card, so for me, it tells me about growing in knowledge, so it seems a good day to work on my studies and be wise about my decisions.

These are all small things, but they can help, if we give them a chance.

Life changes, and not just because we've got hit with this pandemic. Life changes because that's what life does, so sometimes it's good to refresh our sources of inspiration and play around with new tools and new ideas. Give it a try. No, you don't have to go and buy oracle cards. You could easily make an "inspiration hat" and throw in ideas that sound inspiring: quotes you like, words of encouragement, ideas of things you like to do or would like to try out, maybe even an occasional joke too. Take a slip of paper out each day, and reflect on it, or dare and do it. You can even add to the hat any good idea that comes to mind or that you see.

Just... go with the flow. Try it. What can you lose, right? It's your life after all, and you decide how you want to live it.