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For the past few weeks I have slowly been reading "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp. It was on the New York Times Best Seller List. But aside from that, it has begun to change my life and my art.

A close friend recommended it to me during a visit. I checked it out online and planned to order a copy for myself. But, another friend, during a visit, pulled out a stack of books she thought might interest me; and there it was. No coincidence here. So I took it.

The author sets the stage with the eruption of her life into this world (she is very poetic in her descriptions and style; also thought provoking and deep at times - ah ha moments). She is yet but a child and a family trauma colors the emotional terrain of her life. Moving into her life as a woman, and wife of a farmer, she begins the journey of  finding a "fuller" life.

I, myself, am/was enveloped by her words. And the content of the words, heavy with meaning, stuck to my soul. 

Without revealing the crux of the theme, let me just say that gratefulness for the most mundane and seemingly unimportant things can change your outlook on life. I have a renewed sense of creativity and my work is beginning to reflect the change. It has given me a heightened sense of awareness and awakened me to things to which I hadn't given a second glace. I've begun writing poetry again after many years of putting the pen down. It has unexpectedly surprised and inspired me. 

I suspect there are many ways to become inspired. In my case it was, simply reading a book.