Gypsy's Inklings: Creative Detour: Inspiration Totoro Style

(Cross posted from Live Journal with additional pics and links)

I'm busy clicking through this website - http://totoroforestproject.org/ - right now. I have been for two - no, three - days now. Not because I'm a little on the slow side due to sleep deprivation but because I'm going through all the pictures again (again, again!). The ones I'm including here a just a tiny random sampling of the wonderful art there!

It seems the movie 'My Neighbor Totoro' is not only well loved but has inspired many to consider the imaginings of their own childhood and return to that sense of wonder. This group of artists have used this inspiration to spring board them into work of their own - work which they are putting up for auction to benefit the preservation of Sayama Forest, one of the world's largest 'urbanforests', also known as 'Totoro Forest' just outside Tokyo.

(Click on pic to be taken to the Totoro Forest Project website)

This forest is dear to Miyazaki's heart (the creator of My Neighbor Totoro) and as such his work is benefiting Planet Earth in two ways:

Mother Nature gets a powerful advocate to help preserve an ancient forest
Artists are creating beautiful new works that inspire childlike wonder while prompting reflection of one's own connectivity to nature

- both of which help to make us better people and Planet Earth a better place to live.

By Chris Turnham for The Totoro Forest Project
(click on pic to be taken to more information about Mr. Turnham)

Unfortunately I don't have a spare $2 000+ to bid for my favorite offerings.

But that doesn't mean I'm powerless to help. Before you get concerned that I'm going to rant about the need for recycling (which is important) and finding an alternative to fossil fuels (preferably something MUCH cheaper) that's not where I'm going with this at all.

By Nate Wragg for The Totoro Forest Project
(click on pic to be taken to more information about Mr. Wragg)

By Emanuela Cozzi for The Totoro Forest Project
(click on pic to be taken to more information about Ms. Cozzi)

The range of work created and expressed by the artists for this cause is impressive and inspiring. Some of the little 'stories' attached of how the work came to be, are just as inspiring, and thought provoking, as the art itself. All I have to do is think - then act on those thoughts.

What are my thoughts that just might change the world?

Finding my own love of nature and being aware of my actions as I go about my day
Appreciating that sense of wonder in a child as they come into contact with nature and it's creatures and helping to keep that wonder alive - both in that child and in myself
Expressing my own imagination through engaging in my own creative pursuits

By Erwin Madrid for The Totoro Forest Project
(click on pic to be taken to more information about Mr. Madrid)

By Pascal Campion for The Totoro Forest Project
(click on pic to be taken to more information about Mr. Campion)

With these thoughts as both a springboard and a focus, the works I do create will likely reflect that to some extent. Perhaps it won't be immediately obvious but ultimately the chances that it will affect others positively are high. For example my writing will probably have themes that support looking after our planet and our children - themes that others will take away with them when they read my words and hopefully be inspired to do their own 'world of good'.

By Nadine Takvorian for The Totoro Forest Project
(click on pic to be taken to more information about Ms. Takvorian)

And then there's the literal inspiration of the cause: how can a writer who loves Urban Fantasy hear the term 'urban forest' and not immediately have a dozen story ideas she can't wait to sit down and explore? And just when I thought my head was exploding from ideas the art itself, filled with various renderings of fantastical creatures and glimpses of other worlds not-so-far-away-from-our-own, sends my tumbling ideas off in a myriad other directions - one of which reminds me of the forest I've been tending recently - a forest that's central to one of my novel projects.