Strangers That Inspire Me

All I have really wanted to do since my feet hit the ground today is sit and read, and write.  I had no desire to go to "work". Alas, real life reared it's ugly head.  Instead of writing, I went to work, I took kids to school, I dealt with a mini-crisis of forgetting all about Music Festival and trying to find a god-forsaken dress in the mess of my girlie's Tom Boy closet.  Dress....yeah, right.

My calendar is full with "stuff" this week and next week, and all the while, my brain is nagging at me to just sit down and write.  There are so may things floating in my head.  So many, in fact, that I wouldn't be at all surprised if I ended with more than the normal quota of blogs today.

I took a minute to sit and read this morning, despite all the raucous in my head.  I am grateful I did.  In my reading this morning, I came across some wonderful things.  Some of these things changed my perspective this morning, and I will share them with you, as I feel they are pay it forward kind of treasures. All of these were gifts from strangers this morning.  They don't even know how they affected me, and it got me thinking some more.  How many people read this blog that I have never met?  Would anyone leave a comment when their heart has been touched?  I did, this morning, and in fact last week, as well, on a blog that I find truly inspiring and lovely.   

1. TED talk by Frank Warren from PostSecret.  It welled tears in my eyes, and I didn't even stop them from falling. I thought about all the secrets welling up in my soul that I have kept for so long.  I thought about how healing it would be to share them, and again, I wondered if just the right person reads this blog.  
                              *Thank you, Jennifer (yes, another brilliant Jennifer) forUnder the Big Blue Sky. It has become a daily read of mine that warms my heart.  One day, I hope you will know you inspire me. 


2.  A Honey Beer Bread recipe and a connection to another stranger, longing to feel the Earth breaking in my hands, and realizing the importance of paying attention to one's self.  I need to make this bread.  


3.  A realization that while I grumbled about missing tights, and dresses, and messy closets, a beautiful human out in the world somewhere that I have never met is dealing with an unimaginable heartache and loss.  


4.  I read a phrase that I now treasure.  "I have learned what I want to be when I grow up".  Now I just need to figure out how to get there.  It's much easier said than done. 


I am grateful for strangers that inspire me, for people brave enough to post what they need to write, and for letting the world in on their thoughts.  I am going to work on releasing some secrets today, and I will be grateful when my shoulders feel less heavy.  




Some secrets...are for letting go.  Maybe gratitude for the release will fill the space. 


Although I have said "regrets are people for who didn't learn", I secretly wish we were allowed a certain number of do-overs in life so I could take back some of the hurt I have caused.  

All of this because of people I have never met.  Just everyday, ordinary people, on their path, that crossed with mine.