Do you ever wonder where inspiration comes from?
I certainly do.
My mind comes up with all kinds of ideas of where these flashes of insight called inspiration may come from.
Sometimes I envision a yoda like creature (in stature), with closed eyes, a huge smile, and a spiral in the center of its forehead. The creature doesn’t say anything, but it does beam information to me. If I am tuned in, I pick up the creature’s signal, and it’s translated into my reality as an idea. Hahahaha I have quite the imagination. While that may not be the perfect explanation of where inspiration comes from, it certainly is an entertaining idea.
What Inspiration Feels Like To Me
Inspiration for me comes in the form of scenes or rhythmic sentences. I’ll hear words come out of no where that sound almost like a spoken song. The voice is my voice, but it’s calm, assured, and soothing and the words that it speaks are unbroken. Just a few lines, like poetry almost. I know that it’s time for me to write when I hear that voice from within.
Or I’ll see a scene that comes out of no where. It’s almost like a movie screen will show up and on that screen I’ll see characters. I don’t know who they are at the moment or what their destiny is. All I know is that I follow the scene in my mind, and it usually turns into a novel. That’s exactly what happened before I wrote Journey Through Sattara.
I saw a flash of a young boy running as if he were running for his life through the jungle. The boy stopped abruptly and something caught his attention. The scene (in my mind slowed down – almost like a slow motion video), and I followed his eyes to what caught his attention. It was a beautiful young girl who had tribal marks like him, but the marks on their faces were different, their demeanors where totally opposite, and their intentions were as different as night and day. I knew at that moment that I had a novel on the way. So I followed my impulses, sat down, and started to write.
Honoring Your Inspiration
I honor my inspiration by acting on it. If I get flashes of an idea – I write them down. If I get an impulse to visit a website or listen to a video – I do it. If I hear the melody of a song I know well – I play it.
We get impulses for creativity all day everyday. The key is to honor those impulses. Sometimes they come in bits and pieces. You don’t always know exactly what to do with those bits and pieces until the full picture comes together, but it’s important to write your ideas down anyway. There is no stupid idea. Sometimes we get a glimpse of something that we are to do, but there may be some other pieces that you have to collect along the way before moving into creating that idea. Don’t get discouraged. If it came to you as an idea it’s relevant in your experience.
How To Get Inspiration Flowing
Sometimes when you’re lucky, inspiration will rain down like a waterfall. Other times you may find yourself stuck and unable to come up with fresh ideas. I will give you 5 tips on how to get that “waterfall of inspiration” flowing again.
1. Step Away – sometimes we are so wrapped up in our work that we create blocks within ourselves. Sometimes it’s best to just walk away for a few minutes or even an hour. Get some fresh air, enjoy a bath, take a nap. Do anything to ease your mind. When you return to your work you’ll feel refreshed and ready to create from a renewed perspective.
2. Listen To Music – there is nothing that evokes a mood or feeling better than music. There is something about music that just lifts the spirits if you’re down and helps you focus if you are feeling scatterbrained.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything. – Plato
3. Ask For Help – I know some cringe at the idea of going to their friends or family and asking for help with their babies (the projects that you put your heart and soul into), and it’s a good thing to cringe at the thought of that because I am not talking about that at all. What I mean by ask for help is – ask the Universe, the Powers That Be, the Great Spirit, God, or whatever you want to call the benevolent force that lies within.
It’s simple. No matter what your artistry is, when you sit down to create you have an intention behind your work. Although you may not know all the details you still have a feeling of what you would like to write, sing about, or create. Just ask the universe for help. Just say, “I have an intention to inspire, to uplift, to add value, to really create things that mean something to me – where do I start?” You’ll be surprised at how quickly inspiration starts flowing to you. Keep an open mind, listen for the signs, and trust in your intuition. Damn that’s good – I need to follow my own advice.
4. Check Out Different Artists & Artistry – I can’t tell you how many times I have been inspired to write simply by looking at a painting that moves me. I am far from a painter, but I do believe that everything is connected. Sometimes I’ll see a piece of art and I’ll know that when the artist was creating that painting he or she was tapping into broader inspiration. In other words – that painting was created for me to get inspired by. That is the beauty of the spirit that is greater than us. It knows us intimately and knows what will evoke the greatest out of us. So check into different artistry, read different genres of books if you are a writer, go to a museum, listen to music, or simply check out the artistry of the Great Spirit by going outside in nature.
5. Create From Your Heart – there is no other way to get inspiration flowing quicker and more steadily than creating from the heart. So create things that matter to you. Create pieces that inspire you. Write words that open your heart. Honor inspiration that comes from your soul and that represents your values, ideas, and beliefs. When you do that, you’re so authentically in your own flow that there are no blocks. It’s you flowing the best of you.
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Thanks for reading!
Nay
Renee "Soul Writer" Brooks 