What Will Be Your Muse Today? by Rita DiCarne

“Nothing is more precious than being in the present moment.  Fully alive.  Fully aware.”  

~Thich Nhat Hanh

I find my inspiration when I quiet myself and become present in the moment  I actually begin to notice things and not just do a drive-by of my day. Now, you might be shaking your head at this point, and wondering how I manage to find time to quiet myself.  I am like most of you - a teacher by day, a spouse by night, and a writer whenever I can sneak it in.

For me, inspiration comes in ordinary things; nature, music, an interesting quote.  When was the last time you let yourself experience nature?  Have you noticed that the clouds are different in the autumn than they are in summer (at least here in the Mid-Atlantic area)? With what furry friends do you share your world?  In my neck of the woods, the deer are on the move, and a little family of three comes to feed outside of my classroom window almost every afternoon. Those deer got me thinking about their coloring and how they are camouflaged in the woods. That led me to think about how people hide themselves from others.

I have music playing almost 24/7, but it has to be the “right” music.  George Winston is one of my go-to composers.  He has piano music for every season that calms and restores,  relaxes and inspires even the most harried soul. Depending on what I am writing the playlist changes to include the likes of Andrea Bocelli, Billy Joel, and Frank Sinatra. What music moves your soul?

I am a collector of words.  Each of my blog posts begins with a quote. Sometimes the blog post comes first; sometimes it is the quote that inspires the post.  By standing on the shoulders of great writers and thinkers (and some Facebook posts), I can often find a way into my writing or discover an angle I had never before considered.     

What will be your muse today?  Just look around.  It is waiting for you to find it.

                                                                                                        

Rita DiCarne teaches ELA at Our Lady of Mercy RCS in southeastern Pennsylvania.  She is a teacher-consultant with the PA Writing and Literature Project.  DiCarne has been published in Today’s Catholic Teacher Magazine and A Cup of Comfort for Teachers.   You can follow Rita on Twitter - @RitaDiCarne or check out her blog: Practicing What I Teach at ritadicarne.com.