An Old Leaf Becomes Inspriation
Have you ever witnessed something and wondered if it had more meaning? Read how a mere moment can lead to unexpected inspiration.
I was just out of bed and getting ready for my day. I was not quite ready, and looking at the mess of my hair in the mirror.
A dark shape captured my attention, moving behind me outside the window. I turned to look and found a leaf was pressed and held against the screen.
I continued to study the brown shape held against the screen until the wind picked up and it was blown out of view. The leaf was carried away.
It was just a moment in time, but I wondered what it meant.
The leaf stayed in my mind throughout the morning. It was whole, dark brown after the winter thaw. One of thousands in the woods. It was not a maple leaf, or an oak. Either leaf shape I would have easily recognized.
Did it have meaning? I wasn’t sure. It probably didn’t deserve more thought. But, I asked my husband, held a shape in my hands, and asked what the leaf could be.
A day passed, and I drafted a poem, recounting what happened and concluding that there was no message. No meaning to be found. Not a great poem at all.
It felt as if an invisible hand had held that leaf outside my window, with how clear it was in my mind. I didn’t let it go and painted the leaf, with an imaginative scene behind. Then, I wrote about the experience, recounting the moment in a journal.
By writing about the leaf, a new poem came to mind.
I found that that leaf was Inspiration. Maybe not a message, but something after all. An amazing thing that every creative needs.
“Inspiration”
A moment, unexpected Captured and held Briefly in wind Substantial in mind Full and whole Dark and brittle New life to Spring Of old to new A second draft Set to inspire This leaf becomes A grateful moment
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