Naomi’s Blog

Where does inspiration come from?

Who gets inspired?

What is the value of inspiration ?

See the world with new eyes

Inspiration is a uniquely human quality, invisible as breath it is nevertheless at the heart of our power to manifest, to create, to solve a problem, to envision the future and fulfil the many powers that define our humanity. The word inspire is derived from inspirare meaning, ‘to breathe into,’ any connection between the breath and an intangible moment of revelation may seem curious to us. But in the past, the voice of inspiration was imbued with an almost mystical power. When creation was viewed as an act of divine intent, human creativity was also seen to be gifted by divine approval. Inspiration was a gift of the spirit, invisibly conceived and divinely bestowed through pneuma meaning breath but also spirit or soul.

Creativity is no longer viewed as a divine imprint but inspiration undoubtedly feeds the soul, the whole person. To be inspired is to be filled with a new breath, to be revitalised and energised for inspiration leads to creative action, an unrealised idea is no more than a stillborn thought.

There is something so remarkable about human creativity that it has often been seen as a mirrored image of divine creation. It is after all the power to bring something into manifest reality, to translate a visionary seed idea into a three dimensional physical form. Moreover inspiration seizes the mind with such vitality that it becomes a driving force and provides the reservoir of personal energy needed to carry the idea into manifestation. The journey from inspired idea to physical reality is invariably fraught with obstacles, new ideas are not always welcomed or even understood and great determination is usually required to carry an idea to its physical birth. Yet the story of creative vision is the story of humanity from our tool making ancestors to our technological contemporaries.

Inspiration is a unique human quality, creativity is your human birthright, the breath of creation belongs to everyone. Yet so often the humdrum demands of life squeeze the last creative breath and conspire to close the door on inspiration. So in the face of life’s many pressures, how may we keep creativity alive and where is inspiration to be found? Inspiration is all around us at every moment, it is on your doorstep, in your home, carried by your loved ones, whispered in your dreams and shining in your spirit. It is impossible not to find inspiration in life unless you choose to do so.  Inspiration is everywhere, but being open to inspiration is a state of mind. Without openness, receptivity and conscious awareness, inspiration may knock at your door but you are unlikely to open it.

Buddhism offers a helpful analogy here. A cracked cup can be filled but it is soon emptied, a full cup has no space for more, but an empty cup is ready to be filled. The cracked cup is ill prepared for its purpose, the full cup is already overbrimming, only the empty cup has space. These three similes refer to states of mind. How might you characterise yourself?

• ill prepared,
• already full of your own ideas
• open and receptive to the possibility of something new

If you want to see creative mind in action, look first to children at play. For the young child every moment is full of possibility and curiosity. Long before the template of formal education begins to take hold, the child lives through the imagination where possibilities are unbounded. Only later do we learn that the imaginary world of play is not identical to the physical world which we inhabit.  However if we totally abandon the imagination in favour of the intellect, then we have lost the key to the door of inspiration.

The long passage into the socialised, educated and workaday world slowly robs us of our childlike qualities, innocence, spontaneity, curiosity, natural joy and openness to experience. These qualities share much in common with the enlightened state of mind. This is also sometimes called the state of no-mind since like the empty cup it is ready to receive. In contrast, the adult mind is ever-full: preconceptions, egoic embellishments, personal projections and preoccupations crowd mental space leaving no room for the imagination or its compatriots.

Imagination, aspiration, visualisation, manifestation and inspiration

The Breath of Inspiration

The imagination, the image making facility of the mind is a powerful tool in the process of mental transformation, hence the popularity of affirming visualisations in the self-help genre. Even though the technique has a solid pedigree, visualisation alone is not a guarantee of manifestation. Though this might be considered heresy, imagination should follow inspiration and not be a substitute for it. It is inspiration that provides the necessary energy and impetus required, the imagination provides the bridge between the idea in its pure form and its manifest reality.

These two, inspiration and imagination walk hand in hand. When visualisation is not rooted in genuine inspiration, it remains only a thin substitute. Desire alone may or may not be enough to provide the momentum necessary to bring physical results to pass. If it were the case, all of our needs, wants and desires would be easily met.

Genuine inspiration is the prime mover behind every field of human endeavour. In contrast to personal desire, inspiration is most often transpersonal since it provides a solution to or is expression of a shared need and even at its most basic an inspired project will draw people towards it like a magnet. The inception of a visionary idea can even feel like a moment of mysterious revelation, a shared breath with the forces of creation from the universal and unbounded realm of spirit and the sustaining power of visionary inspiration is often inspirational to those who hear of its passage from inception to birth.

The gift of creative inspiration belongs to everyone, not merely the outstanding figures of history, it is the special enzyme of human experience which makes us the co-creators of our own existence.

To be inspired means to be infused with a rare quality of enthusiasm. Inspiration and enthusiasm go hand in hand, genuine inspiration produces visible enthusiasm. Enthusiam too carries a mystical weight since the word comes from the ancient Greek word eufousiasmz meaning, to be, inspired by or possessed by God. The two qualities belong together as cause and effect, enthusiasm is our response to inspiration and this divine possession brings passion to experience and a sense of mission and purpose to action. This is the elixir of life, drink deeply of it whenever you can.