Inspiration

The kinds of beaches I'm used to are like this, or rockier. I gain a sense of solace from the cold water and the wet sand between my toes, surrounded by cliffs and boulders.
[Ocean Shores, WA]

Another example of the water that I crave. Jumping off this dock is a summer requirement when I'm home.
[Bainbridge Island, WA]

All my inspiration photos seem to be nature-based. I suppose this makes sense, since I feel a stronger connection with nature than with any other religion.
However, this photo is a little different, for me. I'm horrifically afraid of heights, but only in open-nature situations. When I'm on the 200th floor of a man-made skyscraper, I'm perfectly fine. I know I won't just fall out the window. However, when I'm hiking this trail, I know that I very well could slip and roll down the mountain. This fear has been so bad for me that at my worst, I once crawled on my hands and knees because I was so afraid of falling. (Ironic, really, since I love mountains and hiking.) I've come to this spot in the Olympic Mountains to attempt to overcome my fear with a close friend, which miserably failed.
I suppose my point is...there's something about this fear of mine that draws me in. It's this twisted magnetism to the things that give me the willies that I find fascinating. I wouldn't be interested in it if I didn't have such a strong reaction to it. So while I'll try to overcome my fear, I also revel in it.
[Hurricane Ridge, WA]


Ookay, not sure if this embedded video will copy/work correctly. Anyway, I love the playfulness involved in this imagining of planetary rings around Earth. Kinda shakes up your whole perspective, eh?

I've never been one to appreciate "perfection". I love humanity and all the flaws that come with people. These wrinkles are much more interesting than some airbrushed attractive young woman. The wrinkles tell a story, shape a life.

Like many people, I struggle with my weight. But while I'd like to be thinner, I don't aspire to be some weak-looking twig of a girl (not saying that thin girls aren't attractive, not at all. Just saying my personal build looks better with muscle than with nothing), I want to be strong.
[swiped from commmunity.livejournal.com/ljsecret; similar to PostSecret]

Books, books, books. I've worked at a library since I was 16 years old. I love to rifle through old books, smell them, and be taken into other imaginative worlds. I especially love childrens' books, like Roald Dahl's, which don't have any preconceived notions of "how the world should be", they just address the world as they see it. When I was a toddler and was talking to my mom, I used to babble on about how things were "in my world". I miss this creative imagination, and crave to take it back again.

Jellyfish are cool and all, but what I really love about this is the color juxtaposition. The colors are so VIBRANT that I could just eat them!

Similar thinking with this painting. I've had this as my wallpaper on my laptop for many months now. I just feel so...alive while looking at it, I feel like I could dip a toe in the brilliant water right now if I wanted to.

Man, I wish I could remember this artist's name. I love the way the whimsical cartoon is stripped down to a more basic, somewhat creepy level, and still manages to be humorous.