Hurry Up and Give it a Go

Last night I couldn't sleep.  I mean I couldn't sleep in a serious way.  I spent several hours watching old talk show interviews on YouTube, I started re-reading The Scarlet Letter (and didn't get very far, because apparently when your English teacher isn't assigning that text... it's easy to put down) and then I clicked on a PDF that I had forgotten I had downloaded a while back: The Greatest Writer In The World by Dallas Clayton.  Then, my sleepless night became my can't sleep but this sure is wonderful, night.

Dallas Clayton is a writer and artist.  His website's bio reads:

My name is Dallas Clayton. A few years ago I wrote a kids book for my son. That book changed my entire life. Now I spend my days writing stories, drawing pictures, having big ideas and traveling the world sharing them with people of all ages.

Dallas Clayton seems like an all around awesome guy.  I love that such inspiring and wonderful words could have been born out of something so simple -- he wanted to write a book for his son.  Now he shares ideas and inspiration with kids (and grown ups) all over the place.  You can view the text of his books on his website, and he shares daily pictures, ideas and thoughts, too.

One of his poems in particular really stood out to me as I was reading last night, so I thought I would share it with you here.  Here's how it looks in the book.



In case you can't read it above, the text reads:

POINTS

Did you win the Superbowl yesterday?

If so
congratulations!

If not
let's work on that.
You've got an entire year.

Unless of course
you are not eligible
because of your age,
size,
determination,
or the fact that you don't like or play football.

If that's the case,
let's find something else to win.

There are plenty of things:
Games
Awards
Lotteries
Hearts
Life

Just pick something,
whatever it is,
and hurry up and give it a go.

So this time next year
the rest of us can cheer you on
and possibly dump beverages on you
because we are so happy
that we can't control ourselves
and that is the only thing that makes sense to do
to celebrate.

Here are some of my other favorites from Dallas's website.  You should really go check it out for yourself, though -- www.dallasclayton.com.

Source: www.dallasclayton.com

Source: www.dallasclayton.com

Source: www.dallasclayton.com

Source: www.dallasclayton.com

❤Lauren

Getting Lost In Wise Words

I often find myself getting lost in visualizations of wise words.  There's something about beautiful words being made visual that makes them all the more... well, beautiful!  I like to decorate my workspace with these little reminders and points of inspiration so that when I'm pausing in my writing, tapping my pen on my notebook and looking around, these little morsels of goodness find their way into my brain.

I recently became enthralled with Lisa Congdon's work.  Lisa is an artist with a blog that has one of the best titles I've ever seen: "Today Is Going To Be Awesome".  She's doing a project called 365 Days of Hand Lettering, and the results are captivating. In many of them, she's taken little phrases, art in their own right, and turned them into visual art. I'm hoping to fill my space with some of her work via her Etsy shop once she is back from vacation!

Here are some of my favorites:

Source: http://lisacongdon.com/blog

Source: http://lisacongdon.com/blog

Source: http://lisacongdon.com/blog

Source: http://lisacongdon.com/blog

What words of wisdom do you keep around your workspace?

❤ Lauren

inspired in the morning

This morning I woke up and sat on the deck.  There was something in the air - something sweet that I associate with the ocean.  It's been rainy and cool here lately, so maybe it was just the scent of the damp earth warming up.  I drink my coffee black - no milk, no sugar, nothin' - but there's this distinct sugary steam that settles itself even in black coffee when that warm, moist, salty air sweetness is present.  Until today I'd only tasted it at the beach (or near the beach), but somehow, this morning, it found its way to the mountain.

It was coincidence that before settling on the deck, I poured my muddy coffee into my Cape Ann Motor Inn mug.  The Cape Ann Motor Inn is a little three-story motel on a small beach (Cape Ann) in Gloucester, MA.  When I was a little kid, my parents and brothers and I would go there.  Now, my aunt, cousin, mom and I take an annual trip there in October.  Last year, my grandma came, too.  We're usually there right as the air is getting cold for winter, but I'm always hellbent on drinking my morning coffee out on the deck.  They have plastic chairs that are so old they're edging on flimsy, and there are usually traces of sand on the hard, red-painted wooden deck.  Below me, on the beach, the ocean swirls against the sand and I breathe in, ecstatic in the calmest way possible.  They have these giant donuts for the guests in the morning.  I don't eat donuts often, but boy do those ones taste good, accompanied by air-sweetened black coffee.

I could feel myself, in the past couple of weeks, falling into some pseudo-routine.  Wake up, sit on the couch, take out the computer, go in my home office, and get to work.  The trees are in full bloom and as a result, the back guest room I use as my office is darker now than it was in the winter.  It feels gloomy in there, which I usually give myself over to, because gloomy days are good for writing.  This morning I made the decision to forgo the "routine" and just sit on the deck.  So now I'm getting to work with warmth and sunshine and sweet coffee and inspiration.

Why don't I do this every day?


.lsm.