June 5, 2022
Dear Friends,

Welcome to June! As a former teacher, I can remember how exhausted I felt in June, and how sometimes I wasn’t sure if I (or my students!) were going to make it until the end of the year.

In contrast, heading into the new year in September, I felt full of energy, inspired by the potential of the upcoming year.

So what happens between the flush of newness and excitement that eventually makes the work feel like a slog? When does work, school, or life become merely the “daily grind”?

Yesterday I was talking with a group on nature connection and leadership, and we were asked to consider the relationship between inspiration and expiration.

In a very literal way, these two are opposites: breathing in and breathing out. There is a cycle; we breathe in, we breathe out. Both are dependent on each other. Both are part of the natural process.

But the way we’ve come to use these words means something different. Inspiration is that motivating force that comes from seeing amazing possibilities that could be brought to fruition. Expiration is not just breathing out, but the final breath, dying.

When I think about the times when I have felt demotivated, worn out, even despairing, I realize that, in those times, I have let the inspiration within me expire. Like the spark of a fire that has gone untended, it diminishes and can possibly go all the way out.

So how do I nurture that spark? How do I keep the inspiration alive? For me, inspiration and motivation depend on knowing that I am having a positive impact. I feel most inspired when I connect with my own values and sense of purpose, and purposefully act in alignment with those.

Like tending to a fire, I can nurture the motivation in me so that the spark does not go out.
• Where are you in the cycle of motivation and drudgery? How can you relight the spark of inspiration?
• Do you have a sense of purpose, calling, or contribution? How can you stay connected to these?
With love and Light,
Amy

Amy Greene
Interim First Day School and Youth Programs Coordinator
she/her
fdsypcoordinator@fmcquaker.org
413-251-6512