being productive...and inspired

I made myself a to-do list for tonight. It seemed the only way to guarantee that I would spend the eight hours I've had all to myself in a state of utter productivity. And, I'm pleased to say that it's worked rather well...that is, right down to the line that stated quite simply, "Blog." That's where I got stuck. I feel as if I have nothing altogether worthy enough to post. But, I'm beginning to think that perhaps this is a more perennial problem, not something limited to tonight's self-imposed deadlines.

I haven't blogged in a month. And, month-long hiatuses seem to be commonplace around here. The way I figure it, if I'm going to keep a blog, there's simply got to be some consistency to it. Otherwise, who will want to check it, read it, or stick with another month of old news? No thanks.

So, for the sake of trying to be more consistent, I am posting an image (two, in fact!) that in some ways seem rather insignificant to me. Photography is not my area of expertise, and so, I feel almost ashamed to post anything photo-related on this blog. I photograph things that I enjoy. I feel inspired by good photographs. But I am not, in my mind, a photographer. What I am, however, is an artist. And, if there's one thing I believe firmly as an artist, it's that inspiration is all around us. Furthermore, noticing patterns in our sources of inspiration can lead to amazing things. I try to teach this to my students. So, I certainly ought to be practicing what I am attempting to preach.

It was with this idea somewhere at the back of my mind that I felt a twinge of excitement today as I noticed the beginning of a pattern. As Dan and I walked back toward our car (after a marvelous beach-combing adventure), I stopped briefly to snap a photograph of an old water fountain. It caught my gaze and I didn't want to forget it. Simple enough. But then Dan commented that I seemed to like water fountains. He was right. I had photographed another old-fashioned fountain over a year ago. That one had popped up just as unexpectedly during a Christmas visit to a Swedish festival. And so, a pattern has officially begun. I like water fountains. Might I even say I am inspired by them? Perhaps. We shall see where this leads. Maybe I will go on collecting snapshots of random fountains that I discover from time to time. I will certainly be more on the look-out. And, maybe something else unexpected will come of all this. I cannot begin to imagine what that might be. But, inspiration is working its mysterious magic. And I'd like to think that that, in and of itself, is pretty blog-worthy indeed.