Inspiration

“What makes you smile? What gets you out of bed each morning? What makes your heart happy? What inspires you?”

2020 was a year like no other. And 2021? Well, we are technically only one month into it but it sure makes a person wonder, what is this year going to brew up?

Instead of brewing up the “I wonder” thoughts today, what if we switched gears to lighten our heavy hearts in the midst of what may be for many people, a chaotic and gnarly world. Today, let’s each find joy in the simplest of things!

Again, I ask, “What inspires you?” Before you answer, here’s a quick definition of what inspiration means: The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.

After reading that definition, now can we each pause to think and write down 5 things that inspire us? Yes, seriously! Try it!

Do you ever have days where you’re more inspired than others? I’ll be honest… I do. Some days we human beings have energy, zest, creativity, adventure, curiosity, and impulse ready to brim out of us. Other days we may feel like we don’t have much inspiration to do much of anything. And sometimes that IS okay. Sometimes, we do need to take a break and lay low, restoring our energy, zest, curiosity, and sense of adventure again. Let’s face it, we aren’t invincible!

Let’s grab the list of 5 things that we wrote down. Do you see anything on this list that at ANY time/day/place you are always up for this creative inspiration? Or, as you look through your list do you ponder and realize that you do this activity/creative expression/inspirational activity WHEN the inspiration hits? I find for myself that I’m certainly the latter. Have you found out that if you try to force inspiration that you feel stuck, frustrated, and that it is hard to do this creative expression? Again, I have.

Here’s the point. We are all creative people in many different ways. But, that doesn’t mean that our creativity is always at the pinnacle point all the time. Here are a few examples of people’s creativity at its best when inspiration hits:

-Artists create when their inspiration hits. They often work long into the night/days and don’t stop until they know they ought to.

-Writers write when the story they are writing is ready to pour out of them. They often start writing and like artists, don’t stop until they feel it’s time.

-Musicians that make their own music often have epiphanies of what they are going to create but have to work diligently to make their music fit together, all the pieces. This is time consuming, but their end product is their unique creative inspirational gift that they get to share with the world, just like the artists creation and the writers end product.

But wait, these are BIG creative examples. WE can be creative in SO many ways in our daily lives.

-The way we talk and communicate. (Ex. our accent, our word choices).

-Our culinary creations! How, what, why, and the ways we choose to make the foods we eat. Creative, appetizing, and fun for ourselves and our loved ones.

-The ways we play. This sounds weird, but bear with me. The things we do for fun are our “play”. Honestly, it is VERY important to have “play” apart of our daily lives. No, it doesn’t have to be for a long amount of time, but we ALL need to “play” because it’s actually healthy! (I’m not going to go on more about that. Just trust me on this one)

We as human beings are creative expressions. We were designed to interact, communicate, and be with other people. Our creativity at times really bursts forth when we are with other creative people that share some of the same creative inspirational qualities. Ex.: Writers meeting with other writers talking about writing creatively. To some that sounds BORING. To others they instantly are thinking “When? Where? What time?” You see, we all are uniquely different in what creative activities we enjoy doing and being apart of.

So today I ask you, what inspires you the most? What creative inspiration sounds absolutely appealing right here and right now? Or, are you having one of those days where inspiration isn’t there? Don’t worry, it’ll be back soon.

Today I want to encourage you to take part in a creative activity that brings you joy, happiness, and inspiration. Grab that notebook. Maybe pluck at your guitar. Or, get your hands dirty in your kitchen and get cooking. Plan your spring garden! Do something that is right for YOU!

We all benefit from doing things that we enjoy. All too often in life we put aside the things we enjoy, feel inspired by, and don’t make time for them. Why do we do this? Really, think about it.

We can’t afford to lose one of the greatest gifts we were given, creativity. Don’t push aside inspiration when it hits. Let’s be honest, that inspiration could literally be the next New York Times Best-Seller, or next music Album release. Wouldn’t that make you smile!?

Seriously though, it’s time to get back to being creative, inspired, and finding joy in the simple things. Life is too short. Why not enjoy the feeling of a smile on your face when doing something you love?

Today, I truly hope that you take the time to do that something that inspires you, and that you recognize and feel the smile on your face, the joy in your heart, and lightness in your being as your creativity radiates out of you into what brings you joy! ENJOY!