12.28.2009

Supermom Series II: "Lee Reflects"

Throughout this holidays season I will be featuring inspiring women in a series I like to call the Supermom Series. (This is the second time I have run the series. Find the first HERE.) I love doing this series because it gives us a glimpse into the lives and hearts of other women and moms. To see how they do it. To see what makes them unique and inspiring. And to see some of ourselves in them, and hopefully grow in the process. Every Monday through December and January, I have had a new "Supermom" with me to answer a few questions.

Lee from Lee Reflects is with us today! She has a fresh perspective, has 2 darling kiddos, she's been a sweet friend of mine for years, and she's real. So without further ado, here we go. Do you remember the questions?

What inspires you? :: Where do you find it? :: How do you live it?

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What inspires you?
Color, culture, different styles of living, and taste.

Where do you find it?
I think color can be found anywhere. It can be found in a small project. In art. It can be found in photographs (I find color more brilliant in those photos with my kids). I think you can find color in a person as well.

Culture. I find culture in a lot of the books I read. I think you can find it in any art piece. I think culture just comes with the art. I read LOTS of National Geographic. I also find so much of it through the blogging world. Yes, the blogging world can satisfy my taste for culture. Oh, and I can't forget food!

Styles of living. I find a lot of this through my friends, I find it in the blogging world, and in magazines I discover laying around.

Taste. I find it in food and everything but food.

How do you live it?
I try to live in the things that inspire me by creating. I add color to my life through my own art, my own photos, and by making rosy cheeks that much rosier by pinching them (I'm a cheek pincher). I try to add color to myself and to my family by being the primary color. I like the saying "color me beautiful". It is a lovely little saying I try to repeat in my head in my dullest, not so flattering moments.

I invite culture in my life by wanting and living modestly. Yes, not all cultures are modest cultures, but as my husband always says "why do you desire the undesirable?" I enjoy the "good" life, according to me. I enjoy a small home, so I can be close to my family and see every moment that happens here. I look at lovely black and white photos of families carrying their hand made, home grown goods to their nearest market and think I could only dream of working that hard for my family. I want to be able to show love through hard work and dedication. I feel like unconditional love comes through sacrifice. Sometimes I feel I know little about the word sacrifice. I try to share through books, maps, food, and by teaching my kids self appreciation by asking them to do small things around the house. I want to remind my kids that there are other things to experience and other ways to feel accomplished.

Styles of living is something I live through friends. It is interesting to see how they teach, what they teach, and why they teach the things they do. I love seeing what makes their house a home. It could even be the piece of clothing that they have strung around their home that makes me want to sink lower in their couch and call it my home. I try to take something with me. I love a good conversation with them when I am dealing with something I feel I don't have the talent for, or am not properly equipped to handle. Their different styles of living and different methods of teaching only add to the value of my knowledge. It never seems to take away.

I like to say I am getting my fill. I am tasting life three times rather then once with the birth of my two children. My taste for life comes with the desire to love, respect, and teach my husband, children, and myself. I want my children to be able to stick their little hands in any pot that seems to tempt or that appeals to them. I want to taste it with them and know of what good taste there is in that specific pot they picked. I want to leave this Earth having tasted all the good it has to offer as to not leave a bitter taste in my mouth, but rather a sweet one.

I'd like to say thank you Lyndsay for thinking that I am super. I think that I, for the most part, at the end of the day, feel as super as the super hero does when he is almost defeated. Yet, he does have that last little ounce of strength. I guess in the end it's the last little ounce that makes him win and he can call himself super one more day. Thank you again Lyndsay!

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Thank you, Lee, for participating! :)

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Christy said...

What a great interview Lyndsay. I love her 'color me beautiful' mantra for her not the best moments. I'm going to start using that too!

Marilyn said...

great interview! Thanks for the inspiration Lee and Lyndsay!