Inspiration is Everywhere

Happy 2020, folks! WE MADE IT!!!

As soon as the clock struck midnight, I could feel a shift in my spirit. This year shall be a year of VICTORY! I’m so ready for it. I’ve been putting in hard emotional and spiritual labor and it’s time to reap the fruits of my harvest.

I decided to take myself to a matinee movie this morning to see Little Women. At least two people in my social media circle posted wonderful reviews about it over the past few days, so I decided to check it out. I had remembered hearing about the novel when I was a child, but I never was interested in reading it back then, I suppose.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!! It was a major tear-jerker for me, but maybe that’s because I’m naturally tenderhearted. The film covered a number of topics that I love: sisterhood, women’s empowerment, relationships, authorship and education. The characters were very well-developed and each actor was cast perfectly.

I didn’t think I’d relate much to it because it was a period piece about white women during the Civil War.  I think the relationship dynamics and the rebellion against societal norms for women are what resonated with me the most. Oh, and the fact that the protagonist was a writer. There was this scene where she goes up into the attic and just starts writing and writing and writing. She has dozens of pages of handwritten words laid out on the floor. She’s in her zone and nothing can stop her!

Now, this post isn’t meant to be a review of the movie, but I was just very excited that taking myself on a date, so to speak, had such a positive outcome for me!

How fitting it was for me to start the first day of this new year and decade by being moved by a beautiful story–one that pulls the heartstrings and has a powerful message, at that!

To be honest, it did make me think about how a lot of women in my circle (and even myself at times) obsess over “finding our husband” and getting married. We’re not in the 1800s where our economic future would be tied to and dependent upon our husbands’.  We live in a time where women can do ANYTHING we set out to achieve. We don’t lack career options or access to education. There isn’t a patriarchal mindset that we’re only valuable if we’re married.

I just hope we haven’t regressed to thinking that our worth is attached to our marital status or that getting in a relationship is the chief aim of our goals. Singleness is a beautiful stage of life and it offers so many benefits. (One is not having to be on anyone else’s schedule and freely being able to take yourself to a movie that YOU love. Not compromising for your partner’s sake and having to see that genre you dislike!)

Anyway, all that to say, the movie got me to thinking and I was inspired to put some of my thoughts down myself.

I challenge all of us to find inspiration in places we’d never thought we’d find it this year.

I challenge all of us to do something new and brave.

I don’t typically make New Year’s resolutions. Maybe most people’s goals don’t last because resolving to do something consistently is hard work. It takes discipline and accountability. It requires aligning words spoken with actions taken.

But check out what the Bible says about what happens when we make declarations.

I’m reminded of the verse that reads,

    You will pronounce something to be,
        and He will make it so;
        light will break out across all of your paths. (Job 22:28, VOICE)

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for light to break out across all of my paths!

Here’s my 2020 resolution: I RESOLVE TO WRITE A BOOK IN 2020.

You heard it here, folks!

I’ve decreed it. Now it’s time for God to breathe on it.

Let’s get ready for this ride!

Until Next Time,

Jess

P.S. The image associated with this post is of my 2020 vision board, which is a compilation of positive messages from my loved ones that I’m using to fuel me.