Inspiration! What is inspiration? The dictionary defines it as “an idea for the realization of a goal or the creation of a work of art, which appears suddenly and without seeking it consciously.” More simply, yet, is it this small, bright light bulb above the heads of cartoon characters? And if it is a lamp, then who turns it on, who turns it off and what happens if it burns out?
The need for inspiration is not just a privilege (or a problem) of artists. We might not fully realize it, but we are all, in a sense, “creators,” either in our field of work, in our studies, or in our free time. Consequently, we all want to be creative, not because it sounds like a good qualification in job interviews, but because – if Aristotle allows me to paraphrase him – humans are “inventive beings”*. Actually, however, things are not so simple. In a society that runs at a dizzying pace, often demanding more than what it offers and preferring to produce massively rather than qualitatively, the individual becomes a straw ball coming and going from the wind to the “Wild West of Everyday Life”. And so, we are very tired, very absorbed, very insecure about our abilities, without desire or without time for new ideas, and we prefer to secure them in a drawer in our mind once again. This happens until the time comes when we need or want inspiration, but we do not remember where we put the key…
*siren sound* “Missing Alert: Inspiration has disappeared” What will we do now?! As it seems, there are two possible roads. The first (and probably the easiest one) is to postpone it again, with the hope that the “lamp” does not light up, not because it burned, but because the fuse has dropped and, it can’t be, the power will come back at some point. It is absolutely acceptable to choose this path, I have done it too, you have also done it, while sometimes it is even necessary (because it is good to push our limits to some extent, but not to exhaust us). The second, on the other hand, is to light a candle… In short, to stop eagerly awaiting a brilliant idea, but to become ourselves the “Deus ex machina” of our story. To take in our hands our pencils, cameras, computers, brushes, notebooks, scores, calculators, whatever everyone needs and start creating now, not tomorrow. Let us no longer rely on waiting for an ideal condition (“ah, if I were in a small cafe on a quiet London street, I would definitely write that book I have in mind”), but to try to create on our own the necessary atmosphere, whether it means looking for advice on the internet, or turning to those around us for encouragement, or even rewarding ourselves with a cup of hot chocolate for any progress we have made. I know that in theory things always seem easier than they really are, but even if things don’t go well, we will have made at least a start. Baby steps, as we say. And if somewhere along the way the inspiration comes, it is more than welcome!
So, raise your glasses and drink with me not to everything that will come, but to everything that we are going to bring!
Cheers!
*pun by the author with the use of Aristotle’s phrase “cognitive beings” that becomes “inventive beings”. (Translator’s note)
Photography by Simeon Maniatis (@simos_maniatis)
