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Inspiration Can Come From Anywhere
You never know what will inspire you and your creativity.
Artists of every kind tend to talk about inspiration. This, that, or the other thing inspired us to create our work. Sometimes it’s something big, like a life-changing occurrence or a new relationship. Sometimes it’s small, like a random compliment or something you read, heard, or watched that sparked your creativity. Inspiration leads to art.
Of course, other things beyond inspiration lead to creativity. Spite has sparked more than one creative to make something. Necessity isn’t just the mother of invention; she also can lead to a new kind of art or new work that nobody has done, but the world sorely needs. And, to be fair, sometimes it’s all about the pay.
Yet even art created by spite or necessity has a spark of inspiration. It’s often not some epiphany or other ethereal realization. Sometimes, something unexpected you come across can inspire you.
This is why even writers – who spend large amounts of time chained or otherwise tethered to computer screens or notebooks and pens – need to get out and about from time to time. By visiting the outside world, you never know what might be a new inspiration.
Random things that have inspired me
Lots of different things have inspired me along the way. Some went nowhere, others got me to the start of a story. Many were just random sparks of imagination, and nothing more.
As a child, I thought dragonflies were the coolest thing! I mean, I still do. They’re beautiful. But as a kid, I frequently imagined that they were actually helicopters for ants. They landed, got passengers, took off, landed again to disgorge them and take on more, then repeat.
Yes, I was a strange child. Probably why I’m still a strange adult.
I went to college in Ithaca, NY. If you’re unfamiliar with this part of the USA, Ithaca is off one of the Finger Lakes in Upstate New York. The lake Ithaca is off of, Lake Cayuga, is the largest and very pretty.
Stewart Park abuts the southern tip of the lake, and I used to go there to enjoy the outdoors, the breeze off the lake, and stretch my legs. One day, someone had set up in an 8-by-4 area a circle of stones. It looked to me like a miniature Stonehenge. An idea popped up in my head, and I began (though, admittedly, never finished) a short sci-fi story. Someone’s random, tiny henge inspired me.
Another time, while walking around the apartment complex where my wife and I lived for about 6 years, I noticed the roots coming off the base of a tree and stretching out above ground a ways before disappearing under it. I got this cool idea for a story about a world where the people built cities around an immense, ginormous tree. The inspiration came, but I’ve never made anything of it.
I would not have been inspired by these things had I not been open to random inspiration.
Open yourself to inspiration
Sometimes, the most random things will put ideas in your head. For example, this post about inspiration. I’ve been slowly reading Chuck Wendig’s Gentle Writing Advice. One reason I was reading it slowly is that I got the actual paperback book as a gift from my wife. I tend to read off my Kindle (also a gift from my awesome wife), so shifting to the physical book (and *sigh* putting on my reading glasses for more clarity) has been less frequent.
Anyhow, not to spoil the book, but the final section goes into a thing Chuck Wendig does, separate from writing, that opens avenues of inspiration for him. After reading that, I got the idea to write this essay about inspiration from my perspective.
People often go looking for inspiration. I know that I do. As of this writing, for example, I’m hard at work on the 4th book of my upcoming Gentleman Space Pirate sci-fi series. One small problem I’m having is that I cannot seem to find a title for it. I’ve looked to many places for inspiration to make this happen, but so far, nothing is singing out or making me go “YES! THAT’S IT!”
Sometimes it’s both good and necessary to go looking for inspiration. Often, however, it’s better to simply be open to it.
I find that when I’m open to inspiration, it can hit in all kinds of unexpected ways. What’s more, it can come from a wide variety of unexpected places. Before I know it, I find myself inspired to start a new story, research a new subject, or learn something I didn’t know before.
Which brings me to something bigger.
Inspiration, creativity, and entrepreneurship
Inspiration isn’t just for creatives and artists. Inspiration is for everyone.
Take parents. Parents often find inspiration for ways to raise their children and do new things to make them more open and creative. They are also inspired to try new things to improve their children’s lives. For example, Food Network star Molly Yeh shares how she sneaks more vegetables into her kids’ food in creative, fun ways.
Great business ideas are the product of inspiration. Down the block from me, there’s a truly unique business called The Original Banana Company. They offer multiple banana-centric desserts (like cereal-covered frozen bananas, and ice-cream sandwiches between homemade banana bread they call UFOs), frozen covered pineapples, frozen covered cheesecakes, and more. Something inspired the owners to create this singular business (which you should check out if you live anywhere near New Jersey!)
Who can say when, where, or how inspiration will strike? Being open to it leaves you able to try and experience new things, tangible and intangible. When you open yourself to inspiration, you can also gain a new perspective into the potential and many possibilities the world has to offer.
Which brings me to a final note.
The world needs to be inspired
Let’s face it – we live in interesting times. Often infuriating, maddening, surreal, scary, uncertain, interesting times. To some, it feels like it’s all coming crashing down. Others think it’s all just madness and overwhelm. It’s hard to avoid, hard to ignore, and a lot of people are hurting because of it.
Creativity can feel disingenuous. It might seem like a luxury, or something that doesn’t help fix any of the broken things in the world today. However, I would argue we need it now more than ever because creativity leads to inspiration.
Doom and gloom need potential and possibility to counterbalance them. Without things to inspire, a way forward is hard to see. Hence, finding inspiration and making art, whatever that looks like for you, is not selfish or indulgent. It’s necessary. That’s because it empowers. When you’re empowered, you become a beacon that can light up to empower others around you. Or, not to put too fine a point on it, be an inspiration.
Finding inspiration, especially in the face of madness and uncertainty, can be a force for good in a world that needs all the good things we can find. Inspiration can come from anywhere and is not just for creatives, but for everyone.
Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you every week, please consider this: How are you inspired and empowered to be your own authentic creator, whatever form that takes?
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