Weekend Inspiration: The Push To Be Inspired

Welcome to the first Weekend Inspiration right here on A Life With A View Blog – the new website! You can now subscribe right here on the blog to receive Weekend Inspiration right to your Inbox. All of the bells and whistles will be in the inspirational email for you to connect with me on the blog and on social media. I also want to hear what you would like to see from A Life With A View Blog. If you’ve missed a Weekend Inspiration post on the old site, you can see the most recent ones here on A Life With A View Blog – Weekend Inspiration.  

I am so looking forward to bringing you Weekend Inspiration posts mostly on Fridays or Saturdays; but there is always time for a little inspiration, right?

I have appropriately named this post: The Push to be Inspired. Why? I know I have had projects that I’ve started and stopped, set aside or put aside and my personal favorite: “I’ll get to that soon.” This all ties back to believing in yourself and knowing that you have what it takes to fulfill your dreams. We make excuses: “I don’t have time.” “How will I ever get this done?” “Someone has done this before.” I know this first hand since I used to tell myself these very same things not so long ago. There’s a saying: “You make time for the things you want to make time for.” Why not make the time to fulfill your dreams? Open that restaurant. Write a blog. Publish a book.

How do you get started? Well, it is simple… write it down and it will most likely happen. I love lists and I encourage you to grab a notebook, post-it notes or your favorite journal and begin writing it down. I want you to follow your dreams and goals and I hope to inspire your creativity. When I wanted to brand A Life With A View and move to a website, the first thing I did was write it down and stuck it on my keyboard and monitor so that I would see it each day and take action. Next, I reached out for help and although I am an “Information Technology (IT)” person, I am not a social media strategist guru – but I’m learning! ☺  There are so many resources to help and stop by for more and also connect with me on social media and we will do this together.

Have a great weekend!

~Lynda

#creativespark: Friendship

#creativespark is a fun and creative way to explore writing, the arts and other creative expressions. I first shared the idea with family, friends and my writers groups and then decided to take a chance on creating my very first writing challenge. #creativespark was available on my old blog site and I decided to breathe new life into the challenge and bring it to you right here on A Life With A View! I hope to encourage and inspire you to follow your dreams and goals and express yourself creatively. Our next word in the challenge is Friendship. I've often thought about what Friendship means to me and after giving this much thought over the years, I really believe in true Friendship with people who inspire, love and care about you in a way that continues to make you better. What does Friendship mean to you? I designed a special quote for you which I imported from my old blog. Thank you for being patient with me while I bring you inspirational content to set you on your journey.

#creativespark: Happiness

I chased Happiness for a long time. Although I am almost always smiling and happy, I fought many internal demons where I felt no matter what was going on in my life, I had to put the happy face on. It wasn't until my father passed away in 2010 and my separation and divorce in 2012, I realized that I was covering up the things that made me sad. Facing those demons and fears was the hardest and I realized I had to go on. Writing about what made me happy was key; speaking about it wasn't so easy. I had to get out of my own way in order to be heard and even writing sometimes was hard. For me, my definition of Happiness became clear when I embraced healing from past hurt and pain. Happiness to me is: Doing what you love; Having faith, Peace of mind; Letting go, Positivity; Internal stability; Continued renewal; Self-care. What's your definition of Happiness? Write it down, say it, speak about it, claim it.

#creativespark: Acceptance

This is my first writing challenge and it has been a fun time. I have really discovered some creative energy that I've had bottled up for quite some time and I am ready to let loose some of that energy and inspire others to tap into their #creativespark.

One thing that I have learned while exploring my creativity is that it was always there - I just dimmed the light most times because of fear. It was fear of not being good enough, or being too good; or people not liking what I wrote, what I had to say, or me as a person. Acceptance is to never let go of yourself during the process of change and do not dim your light or compromise yourself to make your dreams happen. You will make mistakes; or you may find the greatest gift in being proud of the Acceptance of yourself.

#creativespark: Openness

What does Openness mean to you? Does it mean being open only to the things you like and what you consider acceptable? Try being open to the things you have yet to create. I began #creativespark as a way to be more open; share my feelings, my thoughts and explore my creative side in writing and in the arts. I recently began painting and to kick start me on my painting journey, I started attending paint night sessions in my local area. It is so relaxing and so fun! At first, I was very fearful of being around others and a little shy about doing something I've never done before. If I let that hold me back, then I would have said: "I've never written a book before so maybe I shouldn't write!" Did you catch the key word here in this paragraph? Fearful. I was fearful of trying something new and that fear of failure held me back and stifled my creative energy - another reason for #creativespark. How do you turn fear around and embrace openness?

#creativespark: Faith

I took a leap of faith in 2013 when I decided I wanted to start a blog. I wondered what to write about and I thought about: "What would a theme look like?" I came up with words that inspired me with the first one being Faith. It took a lot (and I do mean a lot) of Faith to get started. I was scared, nervous and thought about things like: "will people read this stuff?" "am I good enough to be a writer?" All of that self-doubt began to cloud my Faith and my focus.

I have grown a lot in three years; a self-discovery of sorts that I never could have imagined would have happened. Through prayer, positivity, strength, grace, peace and serenity - I was able to discover what Faith means to me. It turns out for me, Faith is not only spiritual but also daily renewal of one's self to face your fears, affirming your Faith, going after and possessing infinite wisdom, making timely decisions and remaining happy, healthy and continuous healing. Here we are three years later and I am now able to put this into words; even more words than I originally thought of and planned to do. To make this interactive for you, my faithful readers, I began a writing challenge: #creativespark to help you spark those inner thoughts around the theme for this blog. I hope you enjoy the context here and these wonderful images designed and created by Bee Fells Creative. Stay tuned for more and hang around for a while to see what A Life With A View has for you! Join the Discussion, send me an email and connect with me on social media. Can't wait to hear from you!

#creativespark: Love

I love, Love - ya know? Even being hurt by Love, I still love, Love. Being hurt didn't stop me from loving Love. I kept going, kept thinking about it and kept embracing it.  Love to me is taking care of myself and for many years it was hard finding that balance. Getting knocked down over and over again. Yikes! What knocks you down in life is sometimes not Love - maybe a variation of Love? Find that balance and keep going and you will be your very best for yourself and those around you. Here's a takeaway for your #creativespark: Love strong; Love with confidence, and most of all...Love YOU.