Fertilize Generously With Books, Music and Art...

As we unload things we'll not need on our RV adventure to British Columbia and make lists of all the things we need to do before we leave on April 30th, I attempt to fertilize my mind with written word, with music and with art in hopes that I can be better than I have been.

This morning I listened to Natasha Bedingfield's youthful voice as she sang her song "Unwritten." I was transported to a place of wonder, soulfulness and expansiveness with the melody and words:

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide openToday is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Yesterday, I was reminded that no one individual is alone no matter how lonely s/he might feel. Albert Einstein in his book Ideas and Opinions wrote on our interconnectedness, interdependency, and shared existence:

"When we survey our lives and endeavors we soon observe that almost the whole of our actions and desires are bound up with the existence of other human beings. We see that our whole nature resembles that of the social animals. We eat food that others have grown, wear clothes that others have made, live in houses that others have built. The greater part of our knowledge and beliefs has been communicated to us by other people through the medium of a language which others have created. Without language our mental capacities would be poor indeed, comparable to those of the higher animals; we have, therefore, to admit that we owe our principal advantage over the beasts to the fact of living in human society. The individual, if left alone from birth would remain primitive and beast-like in his thoughts and feelings to a degree that we can hardly conceive. The individual is what he is and has the significance that he has not so much in virtue of his individuality, but rather as a member of a great human society, which directs his material and spiritual existence from the cradle to the grave."

One my favorite artists is Susan Cornelis. I visit her blog often and feel inspired to create. In Conversations with the Muse, she shares her amazing creations and they are beautiful.



Susan Cornelis "Nested"

What book, music or art have you used recently to stimulate your creative thoughts?