Creative people are always talking about it. “Being inspired.” “Inspiration has struck.” “I need to be inspired.” Inspiration has been a part of the creative process since the dawn of time. The Ancient Greeks had goddess that were over their muses of inspiration. Inspiration has been and will be the “thing” that all creative people strive to find.
The Muses were the Greek goddesses of poetic inspiration, the adored deities of song, dance, and memory, on whose mercy the creativity, wisdom and insight of all artists and thinkers depended. -From GreekMythology.com
What is inspiration?
Inspiration – the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative. (Google definition)
Have you ever been hit with an idea and you can’t get it out of your head? Then once you get the bare bones down on paper, you have to spend all your time and effort putting flesh on those bones until you have fulfilled the true purpose of that spark of an idea.
That is inspiration striking and you answering its call!
It’s an awesome feeling. It’s like being able to breathe under water and flying at the same time. The whole world is open to you and you are unafraid to do anything and everything. It’s the best feeling in the world and creatives chase that feeling like it’s a drug. It’s their drug of choice.
Who does inspiration strike?
Anyone can be inspired. Inspiration is not limited to those who are in creative fields. It can be the mathematician who writes the perfect equation, the accountant who finds the mistake on the books that no one else could, the customer service representative who solves the customer’s problem the first time.
Inspiration is when you are at the top of your game and everything is going right.
When does inspiration strike?
Inspiration strikes once it’s had time to work. For an artist, that means that you need to create art every day. You can’t wait for inspiration to strike. You have to give it something to work with. Pick up your pencil, pen, paint brush. Practice your drawing skills. Paint flowers or whales. Learn a new technique. Follow a tutorial. Take a class. Try a challenge. Do all that over time. It doesn’t matter what you are doing, choose something and stick with it. Your will your skills get better over time, and inspiration will strike and strike more often.
“Inspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy.” -Tchaikovsky
Where to find inspiration?
What if you are doing all that work and inspiration still isn’t striking? Here are three ideas that you can do to find inspiration.
- Do something different.
- Immerse yourself in other’s creativity
- Get physical.
Do something different. If you’re feeling uninspired with your art, then play a video game or write an article. If you can’t get your article to sound right, then work on a painting or go watch a movie. You may have over saturated yourself in that medium.
Immerse yourself in elements that inspire you. Find other artists whose art makes you want to draw or paint. Listen to music that makes you want to sing and dance. Watch movies or documentaries that will stimulate your mind. Search the internet and collect pictures on your Pinterest boards. Sparking your imagination will spark your inspiration. You have to put in the time and effort.
Get physical. Go for a walk around the block or a park. Do household chores, like dishes or cleaning your bathroom. Sometimes, it’s as easy as taking a shower. It depends on what is going on or what needs to be completed. Getting physical is like a palate cleanser. It helps you to stop thinking creatively and you can concentrate physically on your surroundings.
“Sparking your imagination will spark your inspiration.” -Kat Sanders
Collecting Inspiration
Spend everyday collecting inspiration. You can spend time working toward becoming a better creative person by spending time practicing your field of study. Spend time learning new skills and new fields of study. Watching videos and others in your field of study practice their craft is a good way to collect inspiration. Gather pictures, videos, and notes about elements that interest you, whether on Pinterest or another website, will allow you to review them in the future.
Then take all those different interests and gather them up. Take a look at the ones that spark the most creativity in your life. Those are the ones that inspire you. Those are your Inspiration Collections. You can visit them at anytime to inspire your thoughts and ideas. It will move your creativity to new height and depth. It will widen your network and lead you to new ideas. That makes the drive for inspiration worth everything. It’s being able to chase that dream unafraid. Inspired!