As a creative person I’m always working to balance productivity with inspiration. I know well that so much of the work is sitting down and getting to it. Doing the work. Pen to paper. Instrument in hand. Why are those diligent moments often framed as though they are not inspired?
The farther I immerse myself in the joy of being a creator, the less I am willing to believe that my work and inspiration are mutually exclusive parts of me. The more I make joy a constant focus the more I believe that there is a beautiful balance to be found.
There is a sense that striving is more a function of the ego than the spirit. What does our spirit have need to strive for? It seems that at our source there is only expansion. Growth. Change. The seedling doesn’t strive to leave the shell of the seed behind. It simply does. Because that is what it does. Just as our spirit always reaches for the next measure of its expansion.
Surely this world offers many rewards for striving. Struggle and sacrifice are part of the illusion that we have been told to believe in time and time again. People tell their stories of struggle in such a heroic way overlooking that much of the real progress was made in the moments they let go. Those moments are easy to overlook because they don’t feel as intense. They feel easy.
None of this is meant to discredit action. In a physical world made of matter, action is essential. That’s part of the fun right? What would be the point of having these bodies if we didn’t use them? Seems like a wasted opportunity if we didn’t move some things around.
What I’m talking about here is taking inspired action. I currently have no deadlines to meet with my writing so it’s better that I set down my pen when inspiration leaves than to scribble away with a sense of obligation. I’d say even with a deadline this method is still going to have its benefits. Forcing the words never feels productive in those moments.
And here we have a perfect example of how that works. I am the only one that would ever know that the previous paragraphs and this one were written nearly a month apart. You see I most frequently write in the morning while my mind is fresh and everyone else sleeps. My deadline is a daily one. It’s a game of “what can I get done before my kids wake up?”
On that day the answer was six paragraphs. Sometimes I’m not ready to stop. Other times the whisper of inspiration has become inaudible. I can’t tell you which it was that day. I can tell you that as I read through all these snippets of work this morning scanning for an idea that was ready to publish or to find one that wanted me to pick it up again, I landed here.
I want to tell you something I believe to be vitally important to our creative existence. It is ok to a take a break. You are not a failure if you feel uninspired. You’re not a hack. You might be lazy but I’m not here to judge and frankly what’s so bad about being lazy any damn way. Lazy is defined as unwilling to work or use energy. I have to admit that sounds like a pretty empowered place to be so long as you don’t stay there forever. At that point you need to acknowledge your resistance and work through whatever has you disengaged from life. I digress.
You can’t force inspiration. You can show up for it though. And you can show up for it in different ways. During that month that I wasn’t completing this piece of writing, I’ve played a lot of guitar, written a few songs, collaborated with some friends, cooked a few awesome meals, and learned enough about mushroom farming to give it a go with some oyster mushrooms in our utility room.
I had to just fully let this idea go and focus on other things. You have to feed your creativity a balanced diet of ideas. That’s going to look a little different for everyone. For me it has looked like reading books on spirituality, watching music documentaries, listening through Brandi Carlile’s catalog, and falling down a couple YouTube rabbit holes of interviews with actors, producers, and musicians. All of this stuff, this brain food, is essential.
So please dear friend, the next time you find yourself uninspired be gentle with yourself. Maybe you just need to sit down and start scribbling. Maybe you just need to feed your mind. Maybe you just need to take a break. But please remember that inspiration will always there waiting for you when you’re truly ready.