I had the amazing good fortune of meeting a young lady by the name of Penny and her brother Alex yesterday lunchtime. I think Penny was about three or four years old. Alex was five.

It was the quintessential perfect Spring day in Canberra. Clear blue skies. Temperature in the low 20s. No wind to speak of. It was the kind of day that brings out the pretty flowery dresses for the first time in the season. It was a gorgeous day.

I decided to sit outside, soak up some vitamin D and engage in some people-watching while I ate my lunch and had barely settled onto the bench before two sweet little faces popped out from behind the nearby bushes.

Penny: There’s a monster!!!

Me: Ooh where?

Penny: Right behind you!

Me: Oh no! How big is it? Is it scary?

Penny: (holds her hand up to indicate how big) this big! It has teeth and goes grrrrrr!

Me: Does it have boogly eyes?

Penny: Oh yes! Big ones!

Me: What colour is it?

Penny: Purple with white and pink stripes!

Alex: Here it comes! Look out!

Penny and Me: AAAAH!

Around the end of my seat came the cutest little monster I have ever seen…it had curly blonde pigtails and a precocious grin.

Monster: GRRRRR!

Penny: We have to poke it with a stick! (at this point Penny is brandishing a twig she had liberated from a nearby bush)

Alex: YES!

The monster turned out to be Penny and Alex’s little sister…I guess she must have been about 2ish. It was a good thing she had a squidgey little belly, because she did indeed get poked. The more she roared, the more they poked her, and the more they all giggled. It was wonderful. Like music.

This scene went on for a good 10-15 minutes before their mum came to get them, and told them to stop bothering the lady.

I think that meeting Penny the monster-slayer was possibly the high point of my week.

Playing monsters and letting my imagination run wild fed my inner artist this week, and for that I am grateful.

It has been a rough couple of weeks one way or t’other, but it has also been a great couple of weeks in other ways. Rhythm. Ups and downs. Swings and roundabouts. It all seems to even out. There is much to be grateful for.

Photo: p0psicle

This weekend I am grateful for:

1. Learning: I finished all of the assessment pieces for this semesters’ study…I just need to finish the reading and I’m done! Yay! I also went to the Global Leadership Summit last weekend and got hit between the eyes with a whole bunch of great stuff that I needed to hear. I blogged my sketchnotes over here at my art blog.
2. Family: Last week my family lost a young cousin in a car accident. My prayers are with his new wife and his mum and dad and siblings as they grieve. I am ever more grateful for being able to spend time with my beautiful boys and wonderful husband…who knows what tomorrow holds for any of us?
3. Adrenalin: I have been for a couple more mountain bike rides this week, and my confidence is growing. Each time I do something a little more daring and stretch my skills. I love the adrenalin rush of doing something that scares the living daylights out of me and living to tell the tale

So my lovelies…what are you grateful for this week?

I’m sitting here procrastinating about writing an assignment that is supposed to talk about solving the Synoptic Problem, all the while fretting about the support agreement that I am supposed to be writing when I get back to work next week (I’ve never written one of those before). I’m procrastinating because I’d much rather be writing my own material…writing my own books and drawing my own pictures.

A Twitter conversation a couple of days ago sparked some memories of the books I used to love to read when I was a kid, and that still inspire me today to write and to draw. I thought I’d share (and procrastinate some more)

I have always loved to read; and I have always sought inspiration and refuge in equal parts between the pages of books.

From the moment I was able to borrow library books from the school library I maintained a bag-load of glossy tomes to keep me entertained. I remember during one phase I borrowed masses and masses of craft books that were packed full of cheesy 70s paper mâché and macrame projects, and I think I drove my mother insane with requests to make things.

Other times I devoured novels and found myself hiding in the leaves of the magic faraway tree or exploring foreign lands with characters I met nestled within the black and white lines of text. I’d lie in bed at night and wish that the people I met in those books were real and that my dolls would come to life. (Am I the only one to have done that?)

Some books left more of a lasting impression than others.

Some books I borrowed over and over and my name appeared on the borrowing card more than anyone else’s for the years I was at that school. All of the books that I borrowed repeatedly had similar characteristics,  and I borrowed them for the same reason. They inspired me. They made me dream and imagine a future of action. The funny thing is that these books continue to inspire me thirty years later.

The first set of books are picture books written and illustrated by Bill Peet (Walt Disney’s best writer and storyboard man). Beautiful rhyming stories accompanied by vivid colored pencil illustrations. Whimsical stories. I still borrowed these books right up until I was in grade 6. I would read them and dream of writing my own books and drawing the pictures to go with them.

The other book that I borrowed over and over was an equally whimsical piece of work with page after page of gorgeous watercolour paintings. A book that had me searching under logs and within canopies of leaves for little people for many years.

I bought myself a copy of this book a couple of years back, and I still look at it from time to time. Such remarkable attention to detail and beautiful artwork! Such imagination!

Ever since I was a child I have dreamed of becoming a writer and artist. These books fed that dream.

Sometimes when I get busy writing technical specifications and business cases I forget to feed the dreams of my inner artist and they begin to wither, and I get tired and jaded.

I am learning that it’s important to keep dreaming. To nurture the creative connection to our Creator. To allow that connection to be expressed.

The books I want to write and the art I want to create these days bear little resemblance to my childhood dreams, but the desire to write and to create is as strong as ever…….now, if I could just knock off this assignment and stop worrying about work that I don’t need to do until next week…….

What inspires you? Do you think it’s important to be inspired in life? Even as an adult?

This Saturday I am grateful for so many things…here are three:

1. Holidays — This is the middle weekend of the school holidays, and I am enjoying the break from work. Spending time with my two young men has been a dream and I’m taking advantage of it while they still want to do things with their mum!
2. Flexible employer — I’m so grateful for an employer that understands the needs of motherhood and is family friendly!
3. Education — I’ve been powering through my uni assignments this week too, and while it’s tough going, I’m grateful for the opportunity to be educated at all, let alone choosing to study something that interests me. There are still so many women in the world who are denied the privilege of even learning to read or write.

What are you grateful for this week?