Week Word: Inspiration

I chose this week's word, inspiration. But I'm not going to talk about sport. (I wonder if anyone will, or if we'll all try to come up with something different!)

Two things that have recently inspired me sprang to mind. The first is this quote from a letter Vincent Van Gogh wrote to his brother:

'I cannot tell you how happy I am to have taken up drawing again. I've been thinking of it, but I always considered the thing impossible and beyond my reach.'

Isn't that amazing? Van Gogh felt like drawing was beyond his reach but decided to ignore that feeling and get on with it anyway.

And the second is Shakespeare. I saw Timon of Athens at the National on Wednesday, a brilliant production and very appropriately set in modern-day London. Shakespeare's ability to have written words that still seem relevant and insightful so many years later always inspires me... not to write, necessarily, but just with the knowledge that although material things change around us people seem to stay fundamentally the same. I find that strangely reassuring.

Please do go and visit the other participants this week:

Emma at The Gift Shed
Rebecca at Purple Sparkle Days (a new Week Worder with a beautiful and already inspiring blog)
John at The Healing Seed (good to have you back, John!)
Margot at Tulsi Crafts (sorry to have forgotten you Margot)

I'm going to tag John to pick next week, to hopefully keep him with us for a while!