Inspiration–writers get it, need it, thrive on it, and sometimes it is as elusive as a passing thought. Not only writers–we all are inspired by others, by deeds, by heroism, or…by pictures! On my desk is a very small replica of a very famous painting, “Song of the Lark” by Breton. I don’t know much about the artist. Jane would know. At our next Cozy Critique, I’ll try to remember to ask her about him. But that painting! Oh, my goodness, how I like and enjoy that painting. The subject is evidently a young peasant girl who is in the fields either early in the morning or maybe just before sundown. Her work is hard; it is menial. Yet, she hears a lark and she is transfixed. She stops working and raises her head to listen. The song is beautiful. That bird is free to soar through the air, not tied to the earth in back-breaking labor as she is. Those lovely, liquid notes lift her spirits. Do you notice how straight she stands and how she lifts her face to heaven?
That young girl has courage, she has hopes, and she has dreams, essentials for life. I’ve often wondered about her and spun my own stories. I’m grateful that one of the truly great artists of the past captured her pose to inspire this writer in a different land with different customs, several centuries after he painted it.
I have another, far less prestigious picture that is also an inspiration. You’ll laugh, but this is a picture I cut from a magazine years ago. It was advertising a certain brand of kitchen garbage bags. Yes! Garbage bags. Sadly, it did not inspire me to go out and buy that particular brand, but the lady in the ad really spoke to me. She is a ’50s woman. Her bleached blond hair is rather frizzy and fly-away. She’s wearing a pink, patterned top and pink capris. The sun is coming through an open kitchen window. The cabinets are pink, even that special garbage bag is pink but what inspires me is her attitude. That woman can conquer the world! Her hands are on her hips, her face is lifted to catch the morning sun, she is smiling and she is ready for most anything! What an inspiration.
There is another picture, a photograph this time, of a young girl, maybe thirteen years old. She too has her hands on her hips and is standing straight and tall, head lifted to the camera, a smile on her face. The future is before her, not a frightful, threatening place, but a frontier and she’s ready to jump in with both feet. I imagine we’ve all felt that way when we were young, and I was no exception.
Sometimes life can seem overwhelming. The past is a distant memory, the present is uncertain, and the future? Well, who knows? The very ground may seem to tremble. At such times, we need inspiration–a breathing in of hope and courage and determination. Determination is a good word! We lift our faces to the sun, we straighten our backs, and we look up. Look out world, here we come!
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