Pleasant surprise!
Have you ever discovered one last piece of candy in a bag that you thought was empty? Or found a five dollar bill in your jacket pocket left over from last winter? In a way this happened to me when thinking I was completely done with my book CREATIVE YOU. The final manuscript is submitted, the Facebook page is up and I even noticed it’s already listed for preorder on Amazon when the publisher surprised me by asking for 5 more words to balance out a page. If you were given one last chance to write or speak about something you cared about what would you say?
What would you say?
While first impressions are very powerful, so are our last thoughts. Do you ever sense something is going to be the last time? I still remember 16 years ago: knowing the moving van would be coming in the morning and instead of packing, I was standing in the dark, squinting at a stopwatch, scooping my test strip from the developer and submerging it into stop bath. I wanted to get the exposure right since I knew this was going to be one of the last black & white prints I would ever make before boxing up my enlarger and trays.
Sometimes we see the end approaching like the final episodes of a sitcom or the last sip of wine and other times we are taken by surprise – as we unknowingly have a last casual conversation with a friend before they unexpectedly disappear from our lives. Foreseen or not, ends can produce strong memories and provoke powerful inspirations. 
Our final impressions are often the cumulative of our experiences – like learning just the right place to watch the last sunset while on an island vacation or just the right meal to order in a favorite restaurant that is going to close. When things end we are left with our memories – and for some people memories become sources for inspirations.
They did for Edvard Munch, most know for “The Scream” who was inspired by his intense childhood memories. He said “I don’t paint what I see but what I saw.” While, there are many ways to be creative – reminiscing isn’t what inspires everyone. Picasso said “All I have ever made was made for the present and with the hope that it will always remain in the present.” And he continued: “I have done it without thinking of the past or of the future.”
When you are aware a chapter will inevitably end, do you try to preserve your memories? What do you keep? And how do you plan to use them for future inspiration? Or do you prefer to let go of the past and gain your inspirations from what is happening now? What will you do with the very last piece of candy?
Hi David,
In addition to being a small businesswoman I have always been an artist. I like to take materials from both my past and the world that touches me together in found object sculptures. I also put Dream Word Messages/DWMs on the walls of my bedroom, office, and studio. Also I have sandblastedthem into windows in interior doors. I like looking at these texts, and bound objects in new ways for continual inspiration and affirmation of where I’ve been – I’ll be posting photos of my work on my personal Instagram page. The sohosoleil page is for my day loft rental business – innovatirs & their clients use these creative open spaces for offsites in NYC.
Cheers,
Wendy
Thanks for commenting Wendy and sharing your methods for surrounding yourself with inspiration!
David Goldstein recently posted..Can Your Final Thoughts Spark Fresh Inspiration?
none knows it.This is with the people with fear of death, who relate every thing with it,after all that is the ultimate and every one has to go.So i say-‘ even if you believe that this is going to be your last day’,try to face it with courage and you will live to see another day,after all you would not be there to say-‘see i said so’.
Triggers seem to run rampant for me these days as the memories come in like wave after waves crashing upon me over and over again. I wonder if I’m going to live through this but reading your posts gives me hope. I think; well if the vets can do this then I can too. I joined a church after my mother died. Guess which faith? Catholic. Never considered what the pastors/reverends were called. Took awhile before I caught on. I’m slow these days and wonder if I’ll ever be able to help others or be a normal wife, mother, grandmother, neighbor, friend, etc. Again. All my hats are off and the show has stopped. I can’t pretend anymore. I learned about the show from 12 step programs. Fortunately, I have priests who are allowing me to e-mail them as the memories flood in. (They’re good ones and not abusers.) It’s a parish that includes all-“all are welcome”. The pastor has been criticized heavily for not excluding different people of sexual orientation and allowing all. Well, he’s helped me the most and is real about life and being a human being. He’s not abusive and is a decent man/priest/father but I cringe at that word father and can’t seem to get around it even when i know the man behind the title isn’t abusive and his main theme is dignity, and social justice for all that are marginalized, weaker, less than, vulnerable etc. I know i have challenged his patience at times but I think he’s getting the picture of what makes me me and why. I react/overreact and freak out at times when i hear the word father or have to even acknowledge a human being that seems to correlate to a father. I feel so defective and low. All the education, positive thinking classes, living my strengths etc., are meaningless when PTSD hits, and it’s hit full force, wears me down and makes me wonder if I can beat it. My family and husband have been affected.
I lost my mom when I was 12 from Orvarian Cancer. Its been exacly two years today. The hardest part was/is not understanding why this happend. She was the strongest person I will ever know and I know she was scared, but she was more worried about my brother and I. I love her and miss her very much and the only thing that keeps me from going crazy is knowing she is in her final home with God.