Art Farmer
There are two meanings to the word "inspiration". One is wanting to achieve a greater good or aspire to a greater goal because of something or someone you have encountered along the way. Nelson Mandela is a good example. What he was able to do, to accomplish, despite the circumstances in his life proves what humans are capable of, given the proper amount of passion and commitment. This is inspirational. What Bono has done with his fame and money, the good he has achieved, the minds, bodies, societies he has affected in positive ways proves that money and power can be used for good. That also inspires. The ocean is inspirational. It is a grand and powerful example of the miracle of creation and the small, important place we have within that.
Spontaneous expressions of affection, anonymous acts of charity, conspicuous acknowledgment of good work and good deeds can inspire. Even, sometimes, chocolate cake, if it is dark and rich enough.
Writers, artists in general, use the word "inspiration" with a different meaning. They think of it as some sort of divine spark, the kiss of the Muse, whispering eloquent ideas that bypass all their mental faculties and allow them to create spontaneously. Many even wait around for this inspiration to hit, all the while producing nothing, affecting no one.
Inspiration thought of in this way is a myth.
Some may point to the almost out-of-body experiences possible when deep in the creative process to prove this kind of inspiration exists. Anyone can learn to have those experiences. It is not a Muse whispering new thoughts into your ears. It is not from outside yourself. It is, instead, the flower that grows in a well-tilled garden. Those thoughts, those creations, occur because the artist has cleared the way for them, sometimes over a very long period of time, often without realizing that is what they are doing. It can, however, be done consciously.
Many artists use this notion of inspiration to exclude the general populace from thinking they can create art. "It is something only we special people have." A writer who produces a lot of work may seem "inspired", but the truth is that they have simply trained their mind to think, and when your mind thinks, it will come up with some surprising things. An artist observes all the time. But they observe in a way that many people don not or haven not learned to. It is a simple adjustment that anyone can make: They have trained themselves to notice their observations. Sometimes those notions can become dormant for years, bubbling and boiling in what learning expert Paul Sheele calls the "other then conscious mind." But if they had not noticed them consciously, they would remain external, unusable.
A farmer can spend years clearing the land, pulling the rocks out, softening the soil, fertilizing it with good, old-fashioned cow dung. This is the artist being educated, reading, letting other art wash over them, letting the world wash over them consciously. The farmer plants the seeds early. Some bulbs get planted years before they bloom. It can take an acorn up to a half century to produce another acorn, but that does not mean that second acorn spontaneously appeared after being whispered to by a Muse.
After the allotted time, the plants then grow. Some of them surprise with their beauty, their strangeness, their originality, they seem effortless, but the artist has worked hard for them.
If you train your mind to write, it will write. Journal. Jot. Make random notes. Train your mind to observe. Notice and admire stray thoughts. Notice and admire stray happenings. Notice and admire the mundane. As you notice and celebrate life you will "attract" more life worth celebrating because that is what you have trained yourself to notice and it is always already around you.
The more you encourage yourself to do that, the more you will be able to produce your art. You can call it inspiration if you want to, you can call it a gift from the Muse or the Divine or the Universe, you can call it Fred if you're desperate, but know that it is precisely because you have tilled the garden of your mind that the Muse and the Divine and the Universe can chat with you.
Geoff Hoff is a best selling author. Among his books is the one written with co-author Steve Mancini called Weeping Willow: Welcome to River Bend. He has created the writing "how-to" book series, Tips on Writing, which can be found at http://www.TipsOnWriting.net.
Mr. Hoff and Mr. Mancini blog about writing at http://www.TipsOnWriting.net/blog
Mr. Hoff also studies the practical, non-metaphysical side of the Law Of Attraction, which informs his lessons on writing.
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