Planning And Inspiration

Yesterday as I was curled up in my chair with my quilt avoiding the weather I decided to read some magazines.  One of the magazines that I frequently read is Artful Blogging.  Now I love the Somerset publications, but they are expensive and sometimes they tend to recycle people over a broad spectrum of their magazines.  They also tend to fall into ruts a little bit in that they like certain types of photos and all too often things can begin to look alike.   For that price I like to see different things.

One of the other things I have noticed is that many times the blogs featured say that "they set out to create an inspirational blog."  Now I don't know about you, but I find that to be a rather odd notion.  How do you decide to be inspirational?  Do you just leap out of bed one morning and say "I am going to inspire the masses today!"  I wonder if Mother Theresa and Gandhi set out to purposely inspire others or if they were just being themselves and doing what they did?  I don't know the answer to this...and I feel as if maybe I should?

I can honestly say that I have never set out to be inspirational.  I wouldn't even know how to start.  I would have to know what inspires each and every one of you, and that's a pretty tall order.  To me that's like setting out to change the world. Do people who set out to change the world actually accomplish it?  Or are the people who change the world doing it by happy accident on the way to simply doing something they believe in? 

I think inspiring others happens that way too.  I have had an occasional comment where someone tells me they were inspired by that days post, and it always makes me feel warm inside that I could do that.  But it's rare and it's never intentional.  In fact I don't plan things very often.  Half the time when I sit down I don't even know what I am going to post about.  I will be going along through my day and think "hey I should go make a post."  Then I sit down and the words come.  It's never carefully orchestrated. 

I tend to live my life that way.  I go to the grocery store without a list, I get up and have nothing particular planned.  I let the day unfold capriciously.  Even when I work it's often like that.  I don't always have a mental image of what I want to make, and even if I do...it doesn't always end up being that thing.  Maybe that's wrong?  But it seems to be working ok for me, so I guess I will keep on that way until a time comes when I need to change it.

If you're one of those people who writes an inspirational blog, or sets out to inspire others in another way, my hat is off to you!  I wish I knew your secret.  Maybe I should have planned what my blog would be about before I began it three years ago.  But in my naivete I didn't even know I needed a plan.  I guess I could make a plan for my blog now...but it seems as if that ship has sailed, and I am just going along for the ride!