It does require some kind of propellant doesn't it? Creativity, action, work. It requires a fuel. Inspiration. Whether it be internal or external, something has to power the pistons of powerful, productive actions and beautiful thought. Nothing can come from a vacuum right?
Lots of people would argue that beauty can exists in an environment lacking any type of inspiration. Neglect. Violence, both physical and emotional. Although I would agree that this can be quite a rich soil from which beauty can spring forth, I certainly wouldn't say it is void of inspiration. I would say its a form of negative inspiration.
So if that's the negative inspiration, what is positive inspiration?
I, and it is only my view, think it's much like TV inspirational BS. Beautiful things. Children, romantic love, familial support. Don't get me wrong, I think that stuff is great. It's all the stuff that books are written about. The problem is, I don't think most of the writers or creators of those stories have ever come from that environment.
People who come from that world (the positive inspiration) usually end up writing horror stories. The ones who come from the horror stories usually write about the happy things. The ideal opposite of what I know, I imagine.
It's like comedians having the most messed up lives.
Horror writers growing up in suburban, middle class america with mom, dad, brother, sister and the golden retriever, all of them having block parties every summer with the Johnson's, the Avery's, the Cunningham's and discussing beautifully manicured lawns, their gardeners, BMW's and how they hate trying to find a new place to vacation every year because all the resorts are full of 'tourists' now.
Well, then again, maybe it's a coping mechanism. Maybe that's what inspiration is. People writing beautiful stories after coming from a hellish upbringing just to prove that they're OK. They want the world to know that they are not damaged goods.
It's like that girl you knew, whose dad wasn't that great of a guy, but just so she could prove she wasn't messed up too, she found as many guys as she could, just to prove they weren't anything like her dad. Except, they were. And to her, what was she doing wrong? Nothing, giving love, taking love. Love is a beautiful thing, a thing to traded, shared and passed around to all right? Sadly, it's that damaged sense of beauty, love and affection that seems to breed like amoebas, needing only itself to multiply and spread.
But the original discussion here was inspiration. I guess it's a touchy subject because, well, where did my inspiration come from? I'm not an artist in the least. I might be artful with the words I choose to use in an email, or conference call. The words on a page to my clients are as artful and beautiful to me, as a painting of a setting sun to some. But I certainly don't consider myself an artist. Inspiration for me was getting out of wherever I was at that moment, because
I consider myself a do'er. What is it that I do? A little bit of everything I guess. I certainly haven't done it all. I would have to say, I'm not the kind of person who ran away from home, traveled through Europe and experienced every human emotion by the time I was 22. Quite the contrary. I feel like I've lived a pretty pedestrian life. I did all the things I was supposed to do. School. Sports. Jobs. Friends. Girlfriend.School. Work. School. Internships. School. Extracurricular activities. School. Career.
And here I am. 5 years into a Career. Sitting at my desk, writing to the unknown universe called the web to share with you, what I think of Inspiration. I think inspiration is anything that gets you off the couch and drives to you do something for the good of the world.
It's all connected, if you do well, those around you tend to do well.
Inspiration is merely the excuse to do something. I certainly believe inspiration is a very real thing and it needs to visit the soul quite frequently in order to replenish that thing we often run out of when we need it most. Sometimes, inspiration doesn't always visit us and we need to find that inspiration either within ourselves or outside in the world.
