Hello,
So that you may know, I have been sitting down to write a blog post for two hours now, and only have had scraps of ideas. There seems to be a cloud of fluff filling my brain and blocking wherever it is that you get your inspiration from.
This seems to happen every summer, and to a far smaller degree, during the weekends too. I think it’s because I push myself mentally so much over the course of a long period of time, that when everything calms down, I need time to recoup. I wrote more about that in this post, and since you won’t have a ton to read from me today, I recommend you read it, even though that post is short as well (haha).
Anyway, when you’re in a place of non-inspiration, your very view of yourself seems degraded. It’s crazy to say this, but I don’t feel like myself when I don’t have my usual inspiration, to write, or to make something happen, or anything else. That kind of motivation makes me feel more like myself.
But you cannot avoid feeling useless on days like these, and instead of running away from the feeling, I say stand up and face it. It may not be the funnest thing to do, but you learn about failure in that way.
I have to put myself into perspective though, because if I look back into say, the Dark Ages, or further back, in the early stages of man, and I can’t imagine how awful living would be, and how hard it would be to find any sort of motivation to do anything. Maybe it’s because of modern-day society that I’ve shaped to be a sensitive, softened person, but I can’t help but ponder in awe at how great it is to live in this time period, even with it’s challenges. Compare a peasant to a construction worker. We are lucky, because many of us no longer have to seriously worry about survival. Food can be bought no farther than a couple blocks away at the nearest super-market. Water is even better, found in a faucet
A little perspective on luxury…. Image via CrunchBase
merely feet away. Warmth can also be adjusted in a way that is so advanced as to be incomprehensible to anyone before the 20th century. We have Willis Haviland Carrier to thank for that in 1902.
So while I sit here and whine about not being able to write as easily as I usually can, I have to remember that what I’m doing right now is a complete privilege that is native to modern times (extremely modern actually, because I’m using a Macbook Pro). Sure, I’m not inspired today, but in the scheme of things, I’m grateful to even know what inspiration is. It’s not just a matter of convenience. Very little innovative art has ever been accepted until recently.
Portrait of Henri Matisse 1933 May 20 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I took a tour of a gallery of Henri Matisse‘s work, and even he, who died 58 years ago, was still pushing the boundaries of what was accepted. Imagine people like Leonardo da Vinci, so much farther into the past, that were completely misunderstood. Artists like him had to constantly work alone and have a strong inner-confidence to lead them through a lonely life.
So today I’m stepping away from my need to be inspired and am appreciating the fact that I’m living in a time and place that has the people to accept what I’m doing, as well as the means to do it.
–mrprose
Related articles
- Inspirational Tips to Boost your Artistic Creativity (segmation.wordpress.com)
- The history of air conditioning (geneveith.com)
Deep Thinkings 
Although I can see how it’s difficult for you to find it, some of the easiest ways to find inspiration are right in front of you, and you don’t even need to look. Finding inspiration is actually EASIER in most cases if you’re low on brain energy. A really reliable way to find inspiration is to think, “what if?”. I’m sure this applies differently to blogging than to actual story writing, but anything’s possible. Another way is to look for the uncommon in the common. There are so many things that we don’t see in our lives because we’re only seeing what we expect to see. That’s not helpful to anything or anyone, especially in the writing world. A third way is to listen to good music. It contains hidden messages that subconsciously teach us lessons- but be careful! Most of the super popular stuff is only made for money. Choose the less well-known songs, the ones that speak to you.
Hope this helps.
Thanks, and yeah, I supposes not everyone struggles with inspiration. But I’ll try those things.
Remember though, that I wrote this article not on how to be inspired, but what’s it’s like to feel uninspired, and provide some perspective on how lucky we are that our art forms are so accepted.
But I appreciate what you said and i’ll look into it.