I would love to say that I am the type of poet who doesn't need a spot of inspiration to create beautiful, flowing poetry. I really would! It would make my day to wake up and just write poetry without a rhyme or reason, but unfortunately....I cannot. My inspiration has to be organically inspired. Yes, I just said that!
Where I live plays a huge part in my inspiration. At the base of the Great Smoky Mountains, I am surrounded by natural beauty in almost every aspect of life. I have a river a stone's throw away. The park is the same distance. Wildlife abounds around me. Flowers peek from hillsides, and there are birds singing every few feet. It is something that has always been a part of my life - the slow ebb and flow of life in Appalachia.
What I draw on, in my writing, is memories of the seasons, of the area, of the place I call home. The small moments of time, frozen in my memories, that capture the world I grew up in. A sweet, summery night cool from the crik and lit by the thousands of fireflies. A bone chillingly cold day of winter, piled high with snow. The awakening of life in spring with flowers opening and buds forming. The brilliant colors of leaves as they fell in their death dance in autumn. It is a life we lived outside and so connected to the world around us. One that lacked technology. One that most cannot look at without feeling uncomfortable at the high level of poverty without a thought of the love and the life found within.
Sometimes when I am surrounded by technology, I think of those summer days I use to lay in the shade of the mountain trees and enjoy the cool air blowing around me, uncaring of what was on television or what is being said on Facebook. In the midst of my life, I long for a time when I connected to the world around me instead of the world according to the computer.
Isn't that what our inspiration should be? Our connection to the world. What we see. What we feel. What we have. And what we love. Those small things that remind us that we are human, small and insignificant compared to the world around us?
So one of my goals this year in 2015 is to find that connection and to spend more time finding the world of my childhood.
Where I live plays a huge part in my inspiration. At the base of the Great Smoky Mountains, I am surrounded by natural beauty in almost every aspect of life. I have a river a stone's throw away. The park is the same distance. Wildlife abounds around me. Flowers peek from hillsides, and there are birds singing every few feet. It is something that has always been a part of my life - the slow ebb and flow of life in Appalachia.
What I draw on, in my writing, is memories of the seasons, of the area, of the place I call home. The small moments of time, frozen in my memories, that capture the world I grew up in. A sweet, summery night cool from the crik and lit by the thousands of fireflies. A bone chillingly cold day of winter, piled high with snow. The awakening of life in spring with flowers opening and buds forming. The brilliant colors of leaves as they fell in their death dance in autumn. It is a life we lived outside and so connected to the world around us. One that lacked technology. One that most cannot look at without feeling uncomfortable at the high level of poverty without a thought of the love and the life found within.
Sometimes when I am surrounded by technology, I think of those summer days I use to lay in the shade of the mountain trees and enjoy the cool air blowing around me, uncaring of what was on television or what is being said on Facebook. In the midst of my life, I long for a time when I connected to the world around me instead of the world according to the computer.
Isn't that what our inspiration should be? Our connection to the world. What we see. What we feel. What we have. And what we love. Those small things that remind us that we are human, small and insignificant compared to the world around us?
So one of my goals this year in 2015 is to find that connection and to spend more time finding the world of my childhood.
Do yourself a favor!
Find the world around you!
Sarah
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