Last Wednesday, was one of those really long days. I felt sort of blah on the inside, tired from maybe the cat waking me in his usual lonely middle of the night stroll down the hall, or the data charts at work I’d been staring at all day, or maybe just because.

My honey and I sat on the couch, flipping through the amazon prime movie choices. Eddie Murphy’s face suddenly appeared in the options with a mustache, a really contemplative expression, and an intense gaze focused off to the corner somewhere. The fedora hat he wore was pretty great too.

“Mr. Church? Have you seen it?” I asked my honey.

He shook his no and I previewed the trailer.

It seemed promising. We started the flick. I didn’t move from my spot on that couch for the rest of the movie.

Through the tears.
Through the smiles.

Mr. Church made me feel something new, and I felt myself sigh all the way to my toes:

“Never to suffer, would never to been blessed.”

~Edgar Allen Poe

We’re all suffering in some way. In Mr. Church, a little girl grows up at the charity of a catholic school and a rich benefactor who’d passed and left funds aside to take care of his mistress, her mother, under the supervision of an expert cook. Her mother’s health is failing and the girl clings to the only person she has left in the world. Mr. Church, the expert cook. A steady force from sun up to sun down with one spoken rule: my personal time is my time, do not snoop into my life.

Mr. Church had his own sufferings. I won’t reveal the greatest parts, because you really should see it. An absolutely perfect movie with themes we can all ponder.

It was exactly what I needed to restart my heart.  I could watch it over and over and I don’t think I’d ever tire of the lines or feelings I feel with each scene.

Other ways to start your heart:

• Inspire a new emotion. This one comes straight from my own example above. A movie. Music. Something you might couple with a pen and paper to record some personal reflection.
• Movement. Take a walk. Outside, in a mall, at a school track somewhere away from the place that weighs you down.
• Rearrange your surroundings. Maybe you’re office could use a spruce up. Rearrange a desk, or the furniture. If you can afford to, buy something inspirational and hang it up on the wall, these are some of my favorite items in my own area. I also have cards hung up and sweet gifts from my friends all around me like this one.
• Seek Friendship. Reach out to someone you trust. Do something with them. Talk with them. Maybe read a good book jointly and reflect on what you read.

 

My latest motivation?

Ever After, favorite movie of all times. I just watched it last night.

Cling to God: A Daily Devotional by Lynda R. Young

One of my fellow writing friends wrote it. Every day there’s a brief passage to ease your mind and heart of worry. I highly recommend it.

Kindle/ Amazon/ Nook/ B&N/ Kobo/ ITunes

 

QUESTION: What have you seen or read lately that has been a source of your own motivation?