What's inspiring you?

I was so lucky to be nominated by Lisa Thomson of Lisa Thomson Live for this Very Inspirational Blogger award! Thank you!  So...

The Rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and link to their blog.

2. Display the award logo (there it is above!)
3. Nominate 15 other bloggers (more or less) and provide a link where they may be found.

4. Go to their blog, leave a comment to let them know they have been nominated.

5. Mention three things that inspired you the most during the past few weeks.

Bloggers who inspire me--I'm really sorry that I don't follow a whole lot of blogs.  Lisa Thomson definitely inspires me--her wise words of wisdom about divorce and the aftermath of dealing with family has helped me see that single moms are not alone and that there is hope, even when you're in the trenches of coparenting with a less than stellar ex-husband.

Here are some others:

1)  The Crucible of Joy inspires me--about a family whose eldest son is currently diagnosed with short-gut syndrome and his parents were told he wouldn't live past infancy.  Well, that was six years ago, so they proved that wrong, BAM, but not without heart-wrenching experiences that we can only be in awe of and inspired by.  She inspires me every day.

2)  Liv by Surprise inspires me--her journey as a blended family and co-parenting with a narcissistic ex parallels some of my experiences, and she definitely inspires me to handle difficulties with grace, humor, and to always reinforce those boundaries!  Her latest post on Valentine's day made me laugh so hard that I snorted my tea.

3) Betty Fokker absolutely inspires me--her fierce humor and feminist rhetoric, her joyful and and no-holds bar support for her family and dealing with dysfunction, she is my hero, seriously!  Her daughters are so lucky to have such a strong mama as a role model.  She makes me chortle and laugh and also stand in awe at her bravery when taking on the unfairness of the world.

Three things that have inspired me the last few weeks:

1)  Squirrel.  She is coming into her own and testing her boundaries as she grows and learns more about the world around her.  I've seen her throw up some boundaries with her emotionally needy dad, just small steps here and there, i.e. trying to get off the phone with him.  And, she finally shed her training wheels and can ride her two-wheeled bike, yippee!

2) Ladybug.  Her enthusiasm for life is just like, 150%.  She is either running and jumping, or sleeping, i swear there's not much in between.  I wish every day could be as cool as she thinks it is.  I wish every hug could be as fierce, and every kiss as smooshy.

3) Grave of the Fireflies--this is an old animated film, out of Studio Ghibli (which brought us the Oscar award winning _Spirited Away_).  I watched this long ago in graduate school, but I just remembered it recently and found it in sections on Youtube.  It follows a brother and his younger sister in war-torn Japan and is so heartfelt and lovely and torturously sad and depressing, you would wonder why the heck would it inspire anyone?  It's beautiful though--the love between the siblings, their struggle to be alive and children and innocent and holding onto what's good in life, despite the very worst.  It inspires me to remember that caring for my kids, providing for them, is more important than anything.  It makes me remember that while the world is a dark and ridiculously unfair place, I have to make it as fair and forgiving as I can for myself, my children, the people around me. 

p.s. I'm actually feeling down because of some legal stuff that is in the air, so this was a nice reminder of the good people in the world and the good things and how we can do our best to make it a better life.  <3 comment-3--="">