Where does inspiration come from? I think we all tend to believe that great ideas, innovations, and the arts of history have appeared through genius, spontaneously. However, ‘the geniuses’ that received these great inspirations haven’t simply stumbled upon them. A moment of deep insight comes into our consciousness like a bright flash of lightning across a gloomy cloud-filled sky. This moment may be what causes us to mistake inspiration as a spontaneous occurrence.
The light bulb moment is a culmination, though. It is an accumulation of space generated inside oneself that allows insight. The people that have innovated beyond the limitations of their time, the people we call geniuses, are those that have focused their attention long enough that it created space inside of them for something new to emerge. They were receptive. The space they created inside themselves for the ingenious moment of insight was naturally enough space for that insight to come through.
From what I've witnessed in myself and others, inspiration is not something that happens to us randomly, but something that is discovered intentionally. It is something that takes a repeated effort. Not something we should sit back and hope for. Inspiration is innate, though. The reason it requires willpower is because we are often not connected with our nature. We’re often in our own way. Therefore, we must enact the will to create the conditions for inspiration to unfold. These conditions allow us to create a container, space, within ourselves to hold something profound. In order to obtain the inspiration we seek, we must practice creating this space within.
There are stories of great scientists like Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, and Isaac Newton deliberately taking time to create this space. Not only would they have their specific routines of when they would do their best work, but they would also plan in time to digest. Edison would be so intensely focused on inventing new mechanisms that he would need a break. On this break he was said to put steel balls in his hands and sit in a chair to fall asleep. With a pan on the ground, under the steel ball, he would fall asleep and the ball would drop into the pan therefore awakening him. Supposedly, he found many great insights in this space between the awake and sleep state, a brain wave similar to that of meditation.
This brings me to my next point. Although we need to create the structure for our inspiration to flow, there is an aspect of letting go. We find the right amount of effort to put in and then we take time away from that effort. This not only recharges our battery to be able to put in more effort in the future allowing us to come back fresh with a new perspective, but it also gives us time to digest and integrate.
Therefore, creating the space for inspiration to flow also includes literally taking time from the creative pursuit we are immersed in. However, there is a difference between taking this time out intentionally and taking it because we’re lacking inspiration. Keeping in mind that our process of structure will create the space for the inspiration to flow, we will know the right amount of effort that needs to be put in before we let go. Letting go is different than giving up.
The Katha Upanishad, a story within the Vedas which is a traditional wisdom text inquiring into the nature of life itself, says that the Atman (which can be related to inspiration here) reveals itself. It says to one whose mind is “utterly negative and whose senses are relaxed” inspiration is revealed. Negative here means that the mind is empty. Which is how this ties into our point of letting go. It is important that the mind is not forced into emptiness, though. We cannot try to be empty. This emptiness is created through the mind stretching its limits, which is why we must use the will to its capacity. When the mind has exhausted all of its resources, that is when we are “utterly negative.”
So, inspiration requires some sort of grace. There’s an intangible condition to receiving insight. We can work to set up the conditions, but in the end it can only reveal itself to us. We cannot obtain it by the will alone. However, though it reveals itself, this doesn’t mean we can just sit around and wait for inspiration to come knocking at our door. The container is created through a deliberate and structured effort. Once we have that in play we will understand that our work has been done, we can let go and know that the insight is on its way.
Given all of this, the steps walking towards inspiration actually look quite mechanical and systematic. Through deliberate habits and actions we can create a structure for the new energy, which is what inspiration is, to flow. The idea of creativity being something that is a unique gift or for some people and not others is a myth. We are all intrinsically creative. This may not appear in the same ways for each person, but inspiration is inspiration. We know the feeling. It's relatable.
So what things can you do to set up the conditions for inspiration to flow in your life? What environment (inner and outer) gives you the most flow and insight? Do you need to put more emphasis on creating more structure? Or is it necessary to loosen your grip a little?
It’s possible to turn around uninspired circumstances quite quickly and you always have the power to create the conditions for such.
I wish you the best on your journey there.