What inspires will be variable but is always important.
No matter what projects I am working on, I often look for inspiration.
Even when I am striving to inspire – I need to find things to inspire me.
This is especially important when you are not in a good headspace, or otherwise contending with unpleasant matters.
In the past week, I have lost three people who have each meant something different to me. While I was not overly close to any of them, ALL of them impacted my life along the way. I grieve for their passing, but I also am inspired to continue on and create just as all of them created, too.
It is never easy to charge forward in the face of tragedy. But I guess, as part of my grieving process, I need to create. Life is too unpredictable, and who knows what lies ahead?
When it comes to every aspect of life, inspiration and what inspires you is empowering. That empowerment is how you can create new and amazing things – or simply carry through the patterns of life day in and day out.
There are any number of sources of inspiration, and they can be found in any number of places, within and without, and in any size or shape you can imagine. But I want to focus on three specifically. Inspiration from words, images, and sounds.
When words inspire
While I didn’t watch all of Joe Biden’s inauguration, I did watch one part with great interest. The poem of Amanda Gorman.
This woman is articulate, creative, and amazing. I found myself transfixed as I watched her tell us how we can ALL be better. It was inspiring, incredible, and damn do I wish I was half the poet that she is.
The ONLY part of the Superb Owl I saw was her poem – and again, her words and her articulation of them were simply incredible. When it comes to one who inspires, she has it down and is amazing. You can go ahead and find the words to read for yourself – but let her do the reading for you and watch the videos. It’s utterly worth the time.
One of the reasons I write is because I desire to inspire. I want nothing more than to cause the same impact on you that so many others have caused in me.
One of the reasons I read most of the nonfiction I do is because of how it inspires. It inspires my practice of mindfulness, conscious reality creation, and all I seek to make of my life.
I also read fiction that intrigues and inspires me. Words matter. Words are super-powerful and can be used to move mountains, sink ships, and change the world for good or for ill.
We remember the quotes that we do because they have an impact on us. They get into your psyche and speak to you in a way that inspires and causes you to move forward and act as needs be in your life. I have a whole Pinterest board with over 1400 inspirational quotes from various sources.
And, speaking of Pinterest:
Inspiration from images
My wife turned me on to Pinterest a few years back.
There, I came across the vast array of images that covered my three primary lines of fiction writing: sci-fi, fantasy, and Steampunk. I created boards and collected images on these topics. Eventually, I added a board just for inspirational images from favorite TV shows and movies in these genres.
There is nothing quite like looking at a rendering of a cool looking starship, a sword battle in a medieval setting, Steampunk airships and outfits, and all the other related art to be found. Images are wildly inspirational.
All my life, art has been inspirational. I love a wide range of imagery and formats. There’s nothing quite like looking at the creations of art that speak to you in some way or another.
Like words, images matter. As I wrote recently, the cover of your novel is the first thing people will judge you on. Despite the phrase “never judge a book by its cover,” people always do. Images matter just like words matter.
Images can convey nuance in a way that words cannot. The mysterious look on the face of the Mona Lisa has been a topic of scholarly debate for centuries, now, for example. “Easter eggs” in films have been fun to find in the background. And colorizing one item in a black-and-white image or film is powerful on numerous levels.
Nothing inspires quite like images. They can, on a bad day, or when you are feeling lost, help you find solid ground to stand on again.
Sound inspires in multiple ways
In addition to discussing words when read, I mentioned hearing Amanda Gorman reciting her poetry as being incredibly powerful.
Sound can inspire the imagination in many ways. Music can make you feel good, bad, positive, or negative. Listening to certain speakers making speeches can stir you to action, or anger you to unreason. Sound can report familiarity and contented feelings, as well as the new and unexpected.
When I write fiction, I tend to do so to movie scores. The big, bold, sweeping brass and loving strings can take me to all kinds of places. It stirs the soul and gets the creative juices flowing.
This is also why I like podcasts and audiobooks. Sound provides nuances and inflections words and images alone cannot. Emphasis and tone can be incredibly impactful.
I love Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. Probably my favorite book. But one thing I love most is the narration of it by Jeremy Irons. I relisten to it a couple of times a year because of how inspirational both the words and Mr. Irons’ narration are. A powerful combination.
Sound can evoke mental images. I know, as soon as the opening credits fanfare of Star Wars ends – and the first scene music begins – what movie score I am listening to. I can visualize the scene as it unfolds from the start of any of the nine films by what music is playing.
Sound can be made to make you smile or frown, laugh or cry, and sometimes all at the same time. Whatever feelings and thoughts it evokes – it inspires in some form or other.
What inspires you may or may not inspire me
And vice versa.
But whatever inspires, it’s never a bad idea to take time to give it some focus. Particularly when life hands you a lousy hand, lemons, or other issues that are not pleasant to contend with.
What inspires will be variable – but is always important. Often to create something inspirational, you need to be inspired first. At times, just to get through the day a little inspiration goes a long way.
Whatever the case may be – seek what inspires and see how it impacts what you are doing, being, and creating.
Thank you for being part of my ongoing journey, for joining me, and for inspiring me and my craft.
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