New Birthday Princess and Fairy Costumes, and Inspiration

Springtime is in full swing in the San Francisco Bay Area, and as I was walking through our Fremont neighborhood yesterday I saw maybe the most beautiful perfect rose I have ever seen.  It blazed at me in so many colors: red to pink to peach to bright yellow at the center, with the sweetest scent and the most delicate petals, right at the peak of full bloom.

Usually on my way to Suju's Coffee I walk with a purpose.  Got to get there.  Caffeinate.  Burn some calories.  Get back to the office before I miss too many phone calls.  However, last weekend at a fire show I pulled a groin muscle and this week I haven't been able to walk at my usual breakneck pace.  

So yesterday I meandered.  I dawdled and lollygagged.  I stopped and noticed the roses.  This morning my head is spinning with ideas.  New monarch butterfly princess costume.  Mermaid-riding-a-turtle costume.  New ideas for magic tricks and stories.  Peacock Fairy costume.  (this one's in the works and is going to be astonishingly beautiful)  I can't wait to get to it all.

As a costume designer and performer, I'm constantly amazed whenever I find inspiration.  Sometimes I feel like all my creativity has run dry, but then I walk around the corner and encounter the worlds most perfect rose, and I remember that the world is infinitely larger and more mysterious and magical than I will ever be able to discover or explore.