Celebrating Inspiration

Last week, there was a positive energy surrounding me. I was guided by my one little word, believe, and inspired by the digital citizenship mantra, be the digital change. Several events inspired me and spurred me to create. As the NYEDChat convo moderator last Monday, my team and I conversed with educators around the states and our guest moderator, Marialice Curran and her son, about digital citizenship as a pre-cursor to the international conference, #DigCitSummitUK, that was in England last weekend. Throughout the week, I blogged, wrote poetry, and sent them out to the public via social media. I honored the projection of voice and also various communities that I belong to that believe voice matters:#celebratelu, #digilit Sunday, #SOL16, Spiritual Journey Thursday, #PoetryFriday, #NYEDChat, and #DigCitSummitUK. The individual and collective voices of these communities are distinctive, supportive, and inspirational.

Fueling the celebration of inspiration is the power of language to create and share tapestries of thought. I applaud writers' voice that filters through readings and texts shared. From the practice of repeated writing, voice emerges and impacts readers in different ways. Writers are like dreamers, dreaming big and imagining, using their voice to define what they are thinking, whether it is by digital or non-digital means. Regardless of skills sets, all can be writers who are expressive. It takes a measure of risk taking to believe this.

As far back as I remember, I have always been inspired to write. I wandered in thought sparked by nature itself, wondering how those feelings affected my thoughts. Through the years, I have learned how to notice what I am observing and reflect on what I see. The process of word weaving allows me to project my thoughts from heart to mind to pen. With digital tools, like PicMonkey and Canva, I create digital compositions with the hopes of inspiring adults and students to write. Sometimes, I move beyond my comfort zone when I share my creations via social media channels because the venue is so far reaching.

As a person who believes in the power of voice to inspire, I explored a question posed by Margaret Simon this past Digilit Sunday, "What inspires you?" For me inspiration lies in nature. While observing, I am in the moment, noticing, wondering, and capturing small moments in photo and poem. Below are two different versions of a poem/photo combination inspired by the trail of Snowmaggedon 2016. Both adults and students can use this prompt, Be Inspired-Create!, to find the inner voice that beckons them to add their perspective on winter or the blizzard of 2016 to a photo. See the invitation to the global gallery of artistic expressions here and the post-snow day inspiration to spark a lesson here.

Created using Canva

The image created in Canva was brought
into PicMonkey for additional work
& a correction of a glitch. 

How do you celebrate inspiration?

• Are you motivated by an outside force?
• Are you roused by an action or cause?
• Are you encouraged by a colleague?
• Are you energized by an action?
• Are you influenced by a trend?

Whom do you inspire by your action?

It is with sincere appreciation for the power of writing to affect personal and professional lives that I ask you to be observant of what is around you and be positive about what life has to offer. Share your thoughts because voice matters.

Today I am writing to honor two communities that celebrate inspiration each week:

• Ruth Ayres' Celebrate This Week that can be accessed here.

• Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life that can be accessed here.