In my opinion, inspiration is a gift to be cherished, used, and then passed on to others. That’s a huge part of why I share my experiences on my blog with you. While I draw much of my own inspiration from women of the past especially The Woman’s Institute founder, Mary Brooks Picken I am fortunate enough to have so many inspiring women in my own network and community today!
I was lucky enough to be in the company of two amazing teachers last week:
1. Linda Lee of The Sewing Workshop
2. Martha Stewart
I was in Topeka to do some fabric shopping with Mary Ann Donze who designs fabulous fashion for Indygo Junction. Our destination was Linda Lee’s studio and fabric shop, and she happened to be in the midst of one of her popular fitting classes a three day event with students flying in from all over the country! She has an amazing workspace set up in an old warehouse building, making a beautiful background for her creative work and classes. Plus, I was so impressed with Linda’s operation and her team. For more info on her classes and fabulous selection of fashion, visit her website: www.sewingworkshop.com
Then, it was back to Kansas City for a book event at Rainy Day Books for Martha Stewart’s new book, Martha’s Entertaining. I often reference Mary Brooks Picken as being the first Martha, so it was fun to see the parallels firsthand. Attendees received a copy of the book (which is a pretty hefty thing!), and it only took a moment of thumbing through pages for me to realize what an incredible value it is! Full color pages of beautiful photography and tons of the classy and creative recipes, projects, and crafts that made Martha the icon she is today.
Having gone through the strenuous process of self-publishing and knowing the incredible amount of work that must have gone into creating the Martha’s Entertaining book, I had even more respect for her as an author and entrepreneur. Martha has been criticized more than once for being a staunch perfectionist, but it’s clear from her wonderful work that her high standards have paid off. She even addressed this in her interview during the event, saying that she has always considered her purpose to be to teach others. She considers striving for perfection to be an important part of playing this role, and believes that it should be celebrated, not frowned upon.
Inspiration doesn’t always come in the form of clear blue skies and warm fuzzy feelings. Sometimes it is seen in the dedicated, hard work of others. My experiences with both Linda Lee and Martha Stewart showed me this in a new way, and I’m grateful for the lessons learned from these inspiring teachers!
Do you have a “teacher” in your life who inspires you?
