Finding Inspiration

Inspiration. Sometimes this is the most illusive aspect to creativity. People the world over many times suffer from lack of inspiration. Over the past week I would venture to guess that inspiration, more than anything else, is what has been eluding me. Yeah, my mind is scattered, my thoughts are in chaos much of the time when I have thoughts at all. But after yesterday I realize that the lack of inspiration has been the culprit of my empty head.

You see, for me, I've never really thought of the need to be inspired to do anything that I normally do such as writing, singing, or creating. It's just something that I do. Like breathing. Breath in. Write. Breath out. Sing. Breath in...well, you get the idea.

But lately, the smallest accomplishments have been hardwon. I've struggled with the ability to even think clearly enough to get out of bed in the morning. Forget about making sense of my work. And writing? Dream on. May as well attempt to climb Everest.

But something happened yesterday. Something most unexpected. I had a couple of moments of clarity. No, I didn't solve world hunger or even make a dent in figuring out the deep recesses of my screwed up psyche. It wasn't that kind of clarity. No, it was just a couple of moment of clear thinking. Ideas came. Original thought existed. It was a beautiful, albeit brief, moment of my usual thought process.

What caused this? I asked myself. How do I get it to stick around?

Well, I haven't figured out how to get it to stick around, but I think I may have discovered the cause. Inspiration.

For those brief moments I was inspired. What inspired me? Well, to be honest, it was the provacation from a friend. Yeah, yesterday's post about music and my history in it. It got my juices flowing and parted the red haze that lingers still in my head. It lasted clear through the time I went home. But by the time I walked into my door, it was gone.

So why, now, in the past few days or weeks am I lacking inspiration? What has stifled my muse and tossed my mind into chaos? I'm not for certain. Could be many things. The lack of steady contact with the people in my life. The constant barrage of issues tossed at me. Or it could just be mental exhaustion. Your guess is as good as mine. Until then, it's nice to know that I may be down, but I'm not out.

Here's to finding inspiration where you can and grabbing on to it with both hands. May your muse be with you!

And thanks for the burst of inspiration, Heather. :-)