What Inspires You?

On a day like today, Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King Jr Day, I started thinking about inspiration.  Watching today's activities fills one with a sense of patriotism like no other activity can.  And the fact that it coincided with the MLK holiday observance was not forgotten by some observers.  We look for what we will remember in the Obama speech. 

Wikipedia

We know what has been retained from King's  "I Have a Dream" speech.

I recently have become interested in history and discovered that King started the speech with a negative references to how segregation and prejudice were still prevalent in the country; however, he ended with the hope and inspiration part--and that is what we remember.  That is the inspiration.

But we need inspiration more often that once every four years (as is the case of inaugural years) or once in a lifetime ("I Have a Dream..").  Where does inspiration come from?  What speaks to you?



For me, nature has always been my inspiration...no more than that.  I have always needed nature to restore my spirit.  Researchers today call it Restorative Therapy.  I call it daily life!  You can read about the research in this paper:   Healthy Parks, Healthy People: The Health Benefits
of Contact with Nature in a Park Context  http://www.georgewright.org/262maller.pdf
                   
and here is an excerpt from the introduction:
"Many researchers have come to the conclusion that humans are dependent on nature
not only for material needs (food, water, shelter, etc) but perhaps more importantly for psychological,
emotional, and spiritual needs "

For me, there is nothing like a run through the woods.  Sometimes I walk.  Whatever the pace, there is nothing like it.  A walk or run on a treadmill in the gym can not recreate the sights, sounds, and smells that permeate my soul.  I love the wind against my face (not the fan on the treadmill) which brings the fresh earthy smell to my nostrils.  I look for the images of the wingbeats on the trail ahead of me and in the next minute hear the bird calling from behind me.  We play this little "cat and mouse game" as I continue on the trail. Finally the bird reveals himself and I run on to find another flutter of wings.

At the end, I feel refreshed.  It isn't just the endorphins from the exercise or the fresh air in my lungs that brings more oxygen to my brain.  It is much more. Communing with nature truly does restore my soul.

So, on a day like today that inspires a nation, I recall that I can be inspired every day--just by walking out the door!