What inspires you?

This is probably the question I get asked most as an author: what inspires you to write? The answer isn't complicated and one word sums it up: beauty. I am inspired by beauty. The tricky bit is that I find many things beautiful (and not just objects, but actions and thoughts), and sometimes they are things that other people might not find beautiful...

photo: afternoon beach © Dianna Hardy, 2014

• nature - almost any landscape or scenery
• historical buildings
• daunting, modern skyscrapers
• innovative design - new gadgets for practical things really press my beauty button
• colours and paints - in fact, I used to paint and draw quite a lot. Watercolours, pastels and graphite pencils were my favourite mediums. I also love make-up palettes. Looking at a beautifully laid out, pigmented, shimmery palette fills me with nice feelings, even though I only wear make-up less than half of the week, if that
• body art - tattoos, especially, are beautiful!
• the colours of nature - they simply can't be replicated or reproduced by man
• people - looking at an attractive man or woman (what I consider attractive) is always pleasurable - yes, man OR woman. Eyes capture me more than anything else, followed by how they wear a smile, followed by how they carry themselves as a person. And yes, I firmly believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is unequivocal. Everything we see is a perception
• people's thoughts - words, quotes, and the thoughts they keep hidden; the ones they do not say but that you can see between their words
• open-minded intelligence, coupled with sensitivity
• circles - I love circles, balls, spheres, domes
• the earth and the moon - especially when you can see the shadow of the moon making it spherical
• shadows - they are both mysterious and beautiful
• the way children play and act, so filled to the brim with unsuppressed life - I wish we would never lose this as we grow up. Having said that, I think I was an "old" child, and got younger as I got older
• raw emotion - this is beautiful to watch unfold when it is led by pure intention, whether it's anger, love, or fear
• conflict - this can be beautiful for the above reason, but it is also painful to witness. However, I am one of those people who can find beauty in pain and vulnerability. This doesn't mean I wish it in others, just that I see the beauty in it
• passion - for the same reasons as 'raw emotion'. Too few people are brave enough to be passionate about life, and to follow their passions
• travel, and others' stories of travel - I am a wanderluster at heart and always will be
• animals - every single one. (Although I'm less partial to furry caterpillars - I'll take spiders over furry caterpillars!)
• can I say nature again? I so love nature - everything we need can found in it. It provides for us and nourishes us, and that is beautiful in every respect

I find beauty in all the above, and more than can be listed, and writing is the tool I use to express that beauty. I also love trying to capture it in photographs - a hobby I shall be spending a little more time doing this year if I can.

What inspires you? Let us know!

Dianna xxx