Searching for Inspiration on a Long Weekend
You would think I would be able to write something and write it well considering it’s a long weekend. I have extra time to think, be creative and write. If you are thinking this, you would be wrong. I am struggling for inspiration, possibly because it is the long weekend, and I am tired. And being tired is uninspirational. (Is that even a word?) The inbuilt Word document software says it’s not.
So indulge me by letting me give you a little insight into part of my workspace in my study. Unfortunately, I can never keep things tidy for long, so what hope does my daughter have in keeping her room clean? This is a space where I spend a lot of my time, creating, writing, thinking, and planning. My study is an ‘escape place’ and a ‘create space’. It’s a place where ideas ebb and flow.
My favourite part of my space is the window. Directly outside the window are two white rose bushes. Some roses are looking stunning and some need deadheading. If that’s not a metaphor for creativity and ideas, I don’t know what is. Beyond the roses and across the driveway is our fence. It currently has a hole in it from where the developers next door removed different structures to make way for the new apartments which are currently in the early stages of being built. I’m hoping that the hole stays for a little while as it is quite interesting to see the trucks and diggers at work during the day and then the indolent neighbourhood cats taking dust baths on the site once all the workers have gone home. Yesterday was a concrete mixer day. The first slab was poured for one of the three units. No doubt there will be more noise and dust next week.
My desk is a corner desk and the part that you can see in the photo is the right side of my desk. There are two glass bottles at the back of the desk. I took these to the local farmer’s market last Sunday to refill with kombucha only to realise as we pulled into the primary school, where the market usually takes place, that the market wasn’t on. I then have a candle on a saucer and a myriad of receipts that need to be added to our budget. I have four containers of pens, markers, and pencils (because one is not enough you know?) and even then, I still have a selection of pens and markers on my desk. Colour means a lot to me. I highlight things. I doodle. What copyeditor or teacher wouldn’t have a stack of pens and pencils?
In amongst my pens are a couple of pegs. Yes, pegs. It’s confession time. I love eating chocolate chips and use pegs to ‘close’ the chocolate chip bags once they are opened. When I say a lot of chocolate chips get consumed in this study as I plan and create, I mean A LOT of chocolate chips get consumed.
On my desk, I also have two diaries or planners. One is for my personal planning. This is my GrowThrough planner for 2023. This planner records dreams, hopes, plans and inspiration to get me through my days and weeks. The other planner is a gorgeous cat planner that I received in the work Secret Santa gift swap last year. I use this one to record different social media posts and blog topics. Also on my desk, I also have cut-up shoe inserts (don’t ask why – I don’t know), notebooks, rulers, craft paint, sticky tape, glue sticks and a matchbox (obviously for the candle).
Thinking about the long weekend, maybe this is a time of ‘ebb’. I once read that reading is like breathing in and writing is like breathing out. As a teacher, I do both reading and writing constantly and simultaneously. Maybe I am hyperventilating? So as part of the ebb for this weekend, I will be reading. I will be watching reruns of ‘Call the Midwife’. I will be going for walks, sleeping in and doing some research for some upcoming things and I will be completing my first aid online learning component for school. For a few days, I will just breathe out and give my creativity and inspiration a chance to return.
Let me know what you get up to on long weekends or where you get your inspiration in the comments.
