The Mysterious Ways of Inspiration
Inspiration, that weird and wonderful thing that creatives all around search for.
There are two different kinds of artists; the ones that don’t do anything before an inspiration structs like lighting, and then the are those who push through even without the magical inspiration.
I fall somewhere between the two types, depending on the day. I find it extremely hard to work on anything creative, photography or writing, without having inspiration. I often have vague ideas of what I want to do, but if I’m not taken over by the inspiration, I find it hard to work my ideas into a final product.
For me, inspiration and motivation often go hand in hand, and I use them in place of each other. When I say I don’t have motivation to work, I actually mean that I would want to work but I’m not inspired.
Because these creative things I now do, are also my work, I often have to push through even though I don’t feel like it. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to find the inspiration and motivation once I get the ball rolling, and other times, it never comes and I can see the lack of passion in my own work once I’m finished. That might be something that you don’t pick up on, but because I go through the whole process, if I struggled with it and didn’t get the results I want to, it taints the final image for myself.
Inspiration has a weird way of popping up out of seemingly nowhere, even if I had been feeling very unmotivated to do any type of creative work for days. I always have to keep a notebook (read: Notes app on iPhone) near me, when ever an idea comes up. I have the brain of a gold fish, and if I don’t write the idea down immediately, it might be gone in few seconds. I’d say that more than a few times a week, I get ideas in the shower. Luckily my phone is waterproof and I can run to it when I’m wet.
One interesting thing I have noticed about inspiration, is that is feeds more inspiration. Quite often when I let it take over me, I get sidetracks of idea from the initial one, and I need to write those down fast to be used for something later. Sometimes I start writing about a subject, and in the end, realise I have written about ten different things that are somewhat linked to each other, but can easily be divided into their own posts. While writing this, I jotted down a few other ideas, that I won’t be sharing yet, because I like to guard my intellectual property like a mama bear. Okay, intellectual property is one of those ideas for future writing. The flip side of this coin is that when I feel uninspired, I don’t seem to find anything I would want to do. I have kind of learned to embrace both sides, because balance is something that just doesn’t seem to be my thing.
A great inspiration can wipe out the feelings of tiredness and hunger, allowing you to work through night and day with only a few cups of coffee. It’s one of my favourite feelings, because working is fun when you are inspired and you forget everything else. This is where other people look at artistic types and think they are crazy. And maybe it is true, but I don’t think there would be any great art if artists would work Monday to Friday, from 8am to 4pm, sleep at night and eat and sleep regularly. I believe you have to let the inspiration take over you, what ever the time is, if you want to create something spectacular.
My creativity is almost entirely driven by external stimuli. What do I mean by that? What I mean is that I get ideas in response to things. I almost never wake up to having some sort of grand vision. I'm not even a particularly good blogger. If I'm given a topic to write about, or worse, if I have to come up with one all by myself, I will struggle to write half a dozen lines.
But I can easily bang away walls of text in response to questions.
With photography it's easier. Nowadays, I'm like a Terminator in search mode, constantly looking for things to shoot. It's a background process that's never turned off.
I'll have to agree with you on the part of responding to external stimulation, but even though the first spark of inspiration comes from outside, it's still you that makes the decision to use it in what ever way you see fit.
I like the way you describe photography, I can definitely relate. I'm always on the lookout for light and subjects, and how I would frame it, even if I don't have my camera with me.
I'm not comparing what I do to your talents, but I need inspiration with information to write the rhymes I do. Sometimes weeks go by. Depends on mood and opportunity. As they say, you can't just pull great things out your ass. You have to let it happen naturally.
Don't be so modest! I think some people will disagree with us and say not to wait for inspiration but to approach the work in a more analytic way and just do it! Which might work too, but it's definitely not as enjoyable and I never seem to get the best of results that way.
The analytical way takes too long. It might eventually happen, but I need an inspiration to get me excited about doing it. Sex is the same way. I could do it anytime, but the passion you feel is not the same. And the result and the approach are both different.
I can be creative and to me it comes to me but recently I have to resist the urge of hopping down the rabbit hole 🐇 and continue on the (semi) stable grind I’m on.
You have those adulting responsibilities to take care of, can't be Alice in Wonderland too much!
All of my income comes from freelance writing, and I struggle with exactly the issue you have described. Even though I usually have a topic given to me by a client beforehand, I often find it hard to even come up with an outline of the topic if I am distracted by other things and just don't feel like it.
Sometimes I respond by trying to push through and work anyway. Those are the times when my work ends up not being as good. Other times, I just take the day off and go back to work the next day. But if I do that every time, I'll end up not making enough money to pay the bills.
I think you just have to figure it out on a case-by-case basis.
Thank you for writing this. I enjoyed reading it a lot.
Having to write about a subject someone else gives me, sounds like my nightmare!!
When the creative thing is not just a hobby, but also means of making money, you don't have the luxury to only work on the piece when you are super inspired. That is exactly what I have to do too, go away from the subject for a while if I can, and then get back to it.
Thank you for taking the time to read it and respond :)
In my case,incoming inspiration is thwarted by doubt and fear. There are things I see that gives me inspiration, but when its time for me to act, a sense of dread comes over me and I begin to wonder if taking that step is the right decision.By the way, lovely piece you wrote. Very "INSPIRATIONAL" lol
You probably know this already but I'm gonna say it anyway: don't let that fear keep you from doing what ever it is you want to do!
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