INSPIRATION

It is a verb with these definitions (when used with an object in grammar):
*to fill with an animating, quickening or exalting influence.
*to produce or arouse a thought, feeling, etc.
*to fill or affect with a specified thought or feeling.

When used without an object it means to inhale.

It's origin is Latin combining (in), which means in (duh), and (spirare), which means to breathe. Spirare is where our English word Spirit originates. The suffix tion simply means the condition or state of being. Therefore, it is no wonder that inspiration is an inside-out experience ... HolySpirit filling, producing or affecting our spirits; inhaling into us.

The arts have always inspired me, whether it's in the form of music, dance, theater, writing or a vision captured on canvas. I've come to realize that art, in all its forms, so inspires me for the very reasons that creation, in all its forms, does too. Everything about them--art and creation--started with a breath of life. God spoke and HolySpirit breathed life in the form of earth and man.

And art is just an extension of that original creation process: HolySpirit breaths inspiration into a human heart and the heart expresses that very breath in an outward manifestation, giving us life in the form of art.

From the time I was very young, the love of dance captured a piece of my heart and has stayed there, firmly rooted. My parents helped shaped that love through dance lessons when I was a young girl. I took tap, ballet and even Polynesian lessons, progressing to a year on pointe, until it became obvious that my build was never going to be lithe and fragile--a few qualities required off those on pointe. To this day, I still have the one pair of toe shoes I danced in for that year. A momento of my love of ballet, even though my future as a Principle Dancer in the American Ballet Theater was not in God's plan for me. ;)

So in the 7th grade I left the dance studio behind and ventured into sports, where I excelled quite naturally at volleyball, softball and soccer. But my love of dance never wained, it just nestled more comfortably into my heart; and ever since 7th grade, I've lived vicariously through every show, every recital, every performance I've laid my eyes on.

My greatest moment yet as a spectator? Getting to see the New York City Ballet perform at the Lincoln Center with my Bestie ... a memory seared into that corner of my heart that dance holds. <3

And now, as song and dance have become appreciated again, our TV's are being brought back to life through art in human form. My favorite? So You Think You Can Dance!!! Every week I am moved to tears through, at least, one performance; and over the past couple years, one dancer seems to captivate me from the get-go. So in this season of SYTYCD, I decided to capture "those moments that needed no words to speak to my spirit" and leave them here on my blog, so I could revisit them any time I wanted to.

In this 8th season of SYTYCD, Melanie Moore is [the] dancer that reached right out of the television within 3 seconds of her audition and made me begin cheering for her dances-to-come before she was even chosen for the Top 20.

The minute this short preview of her enormous talent ended, I was grabbing my phone and rewinding the DVR in order to record her audition to video. Here is her original audition: (the quality isn't the best since I was recording from the television to my phone camera, but it's the only way I could get a copy)

I have watched this clip so many times. Inspiration exhaled through movement. Watching her destiny unfold is breathtaking. And watching the joy in her mom's expression is priceless. Can you just imagine a look similar to that on our Father God's [face] as He watched her, too? She is living out loud the life breathed into her.

I determined, after watching this, that I was going to find a way to keep what inspires and moves me here. In the same way that I cherish the memories and lessons taught that I get to look to back on, I want to remember the moments where HolySpirit breathed life into my spirit.

More to come as inspiration becomes a permanent fixture on my blog.