Each month the Writers Group at the Holliston Senior Center submits one of their member’s written work for publication. This month the selected piece is written by Lois Hosmer.

‘Inspiration’ by Lois Hosmer

Inspiration surrounds us in our families, places of worship, our schools, our vacations, and our natural environment.  Inspiration can be long or short term.  Long term ideals are with us for a lifetime.  Short term enthusiasms flame and fade.

The first people to give us lifetime goals are our families.  Mine taught loyalty to family, church, and country; little preaching, just example.  Fortitude in the face of difficulty was prominent.  I was born in the middle of the depression.  My parents experienced many challenges, both personal and financial, yet life was happy and hopeful.  Hospitality to many taught my siblings and me how to treat others.  These ideals have always guided my life.

World War II filled everyone’s mind during my childhood.  The willingness of people I knew to accept inconveniences and to make sacrifices for the good of the troops made everyone proud.  The efforts of the president, generals, and the men in the armed services brought out the best in most of the country’s citizens.

School provided new inspirations; knowledge of the world expanded.  Great men and women, their thoughts and accomplishments, widened possibilities for choosing a life path.  Books and poetry helped solidify emerging ideas.  Two poems that stay with me are Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” and William Butler Yeats’ “Lake Isle of Innisfree.”  The Frost poem makes clear we should appreciate blessings as they are encountered as all things in life are temporary.  Yeats’ poem speaks of something everyone wants; a place to retreat to for peace of soul.

Some of the short-term inspirations I have experienced were talents I admired in others and thought I should emulate.  On the train to Lowell, during my college years, many of the girls were knitting scarves, hats, and sweaters.  Their needles flew and they made it seem effortless.  I thought I should be able to do this, too.  Not so.  I never got beyond learning how to cast on stitches.  I was the proverbial all thumbs.  That enthusiasm faded fast. Sewing was another skill I admired and was inspired to learn.  I learned.  I made a few things for my daughters and myself but the whole process made me so tense that I finally gave away my sewing machine.

Nature is an inspiration every day.  The beauty and awe it adds to daily life through the birds, trees, oceans, and ever-changing scene inspires songs, paintings, research of all kinds, and more.  It brings us into the garden, coaxes us to put up bird feeders, to plant a tree, or pretty bush.  The beauty of the natural world adds color and calm to our lives.

Look around.  Someone or something in your immediate vicinity awaits your attention.  If you give it something new, inspiring, and satisfying it will be your reward. Lois Hosmer