So I've spent the last week wracking my brains for something to write, and then the week before that, wishing I could even care for writing. And in doing so, I've figured out what has been on my mind. Inspiration and motivation. The two, at first glance, may seem unconnected but really they are two of the most interconnected ideals. We need one for the other, even if we have yet to realise it.
As a fairly creative person, my head is always full of things I want to make and bring to life and yet I can never feel like I'm making sense of those ideas without 'Inspiration'. If you've read any of my posts ever, my final tag line is always "until next time, be inspired". It's important to me not to overlook the energy bursts that inspiration supply for us.
I don't know about everyone else, but I always crave it when I know it's not coming but never seem to harness it fast enough before its fleeting visit is over. I can spend whole days inspired and then sometimes, I can't even keep hold of it for half an hour.
And in searching for it, I've realised that sometimes it can be an excuse not to try. Since we're always chasing inspiration but rarely find it, we can give it a sense of fragility that is undeserving of it. Inspiration is almost now a crutch without which my motivation will stumble and fall.
And that's how they intertwine.
I've always found that when I feel inspired, I can do something about it. And I can mould that feeling into whatever I want from it. But as soon as the feeling is gone, lately so does the motivation to do anything. To work. To create.
I think that's a dangerous power that we can give to an ideal, at least it is for me. I lose all sense of meaning behind my work; whether it is university assignments, or this blog, or one of my novels, or a completely new idea. I just can't. And I think that is an awful place to be stuck. With a seeming desire to work but no motivation to follow through with what your mind and mouth are saying.
Even as I'm writing this out, I have to almost force it out, or else I would stop and just not upload. I think the need for inspiration can be healthy as long as it isn't all that is needed for you to do anything for yourself.
When I hold myself accountable for my work and the motivation behind it, then it takes away the chokehold that inspiration seems to have on my ideas and my energy.
So that's my take away from this past week - I'm going to make sure that I'm not held captive by inspiration, when sometimes all I'm lacking is the motivation to do good work. I'm going to try to recognise inspiration when it is important but not give it more value than I should.
Until next time, be inspired...
Love,
Z
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