At 3 o'clock this morning I realized I need more inspiration. I need to think less about heavy dark problems and more about fun things. Why is this so hard for me? I've been online since 2005 and since that time more and more of my life is focused on my computer screen. Partly because I'm home all. the. time. And partly because I've become so desperate to not spend any money. B.C. (before computer) I spent a lot of time browsing bookstores and craft supply houses. Recreational money was mostly spent on books and art supplies. Which used to be a rather furtive guilty pleasure and I worked hard to stop it. It seemed frivolous and false, like maybe I was pretending to be an artist? What a sad point of view. 

And a big mistake. Creativity is stimulated by browsing and by surrounding yourself with tangible possibility--fabrics, yarns, paints, stardust, and fae folderal. Browsing opens your life to serendipity and spark. It knocks on your subconscious, opens doors and windows, pokes around. Its a cheerful fresh constantly renewable way of life. As a mother, its much better for my family when I can facilitate a sparky and fresh attitude. Surfing the blogs of other mothers trying to bring some light and creativity into their homes is helpful.

But for some reason, though it would seem like surfing the internet could offer inspiration for free from your couch, computer time isn't so fresh and sparky. Browsing simply doesn't work as well online. This is not my rule, its a thing librarians have also noticed. Something was lost when we pulled our hands off the card catalog and put them on the keyboard instead. Its just less sparky, for some mysterious reason.

Personal connections online are wonderful. But turning away from the screen to focus on positive ideas, helps bring a whole lot more snap and vibrancy back to my family's life. Fabric in the hand is worth a lot more than fabric online.

We are considering Couch Surfing our way to New Mexico this winter. The idea is as sparky as it gets, the perfect marriage of the internet and tangible inspirational real life. Couch surfing would dramatically increase our possibilities while there. Perhaps a mother/daughter night in Santa Fe? Perhaps a quick jaunt up to Taos? When ITS ALL FREE, why not? Now there is a fabulous cheerful thought full of open possibility, something fun to think about, and oh so much better for my family than brooding on the news of the day.