How to Find Inspiration

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”
~ Jack London

Inspiration never just comes to me.
It never has.
Even with 8 years of intense music composing for college, I was not the rare breed that would be awoken in the middle of the night frantically trying to notate the symphonic score running through my mind.
My compositions were usually a result of forcing myself to sit at the piano everyday and get something on paper.  (Nothing like a deadline of a private lesson once a week to generate some consistency to working…otherwise I may have gone through life never writing much at all.)

“We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.” ~ Frank Tibolt

A high majority of my inspired moments in life have come from spending time in the trenches.  Sitting at the piano for hours trying to figure out a perfect modulation, riding my bike and thinking intently on how I might solve a problem, journaling every morning on problems and solutions, spending a few hours in brainstorming concepts for a photoshoot…
The inspiration may not come immediately, (sometimes it shows up at the very last moment) but I firmly believe that we sort of earn the right for inspiration by putting in our time by working for it.  At least thats how it works for me.
I was truly moved by this talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the sensational best seller, Eat, Pray, Love.  Her description of creativity and inspiration resonated deeply with me, shedding some new light on my perspective of “perspiration brings inspiration.”
If you’re a creative individual, it will be one of the best spent 20 minutes of your week 😉

“Don’t be afraid, don’t be daunted. Just do your job. Continue to show up for your piece of it, whatever that might be.  If your job is to dance, do your dance. If the divine cockeyed genius assigned to your case decides to let somesort of wonderment be glimpsed for just one moment through your efforts, then ‘Ole’.  And if not, then do your dance anyhow, and ‘Ole’ to you nonetheless.  I believe this and believe that we must teach this. ‘Ole’ to you nonetheless just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness to keep showing up.” -Elizabeth Gilbert.

GOOGLE READER FRIENDS, You may need to CLICK TO THE BLOG to see this inspiring video.

What do you think? How does inspiration work for you?

Brooke Snow is a Lifestyle photographer in Cache Valley, Utah.  She attributes much inspiration to consistent early morning meditation time.  You have to fill your reservoir in order to have a source from which to draw.

Brooke teaches private photography lessons , online photography classes, as well as seasonal photography classes in Logan, Utah.

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8 Responses

  1. Wow, that’s a great talk. Thanks so much for sharing, what a great way to start the week. I think as a society we do tend to equate angst with art instead of inspiration with art.

  2. Awesome. She speaks as fluidly as a perfectly edited and honed manuscript. I was very much inpsired.

    I am going to name my “genius” to help remember all that she said. This “genius” will wear the same name as Noelle’s imaginary friend who is a horse. He shall be named: Akido Cheeto Dorito.

    If my writing attempts fail, he (the Genius) can go on the Maurie Povich Show and blame it on his namesake.

  3. Loved this video! It does take time to be creative. Sometimes (ok alot of times!) I just have to jump in there and start something. Then before I know it, the ideas flow!

  4. I like the idea of naming your genius Lindsey 🙂 Sort of like naming your guardian angel, Arnold? 🙂 😉 Makes them seem more real, doesn’t it 🙂

  5. Just what I needed today. This was an inspirational talk for me, for daily life, for something to really think about for the whole week. Thanks.

  6. You don’t even know how much I needed this today. I love Liz Gilbert and I love that she said she is like a mule. Sometimes I feel like I really shouldn’t be doing photography because I have to work at it and it doesn’t just flow from me all the time. So knowing that both you and Liz, have to push to get the creativity to come sometimes, makes me feel so much better about what I am doing. I have just been waiting for inspiration and shoots to come to me and today I decided I need to just make it happen. Then I came here and read your blog.

    Wow, this could not have been better timing. Thanks again for posting this.

    1. Hooray Aimee 🙂 Yep. Thats the secret. There is no secret. And its hard work and takes consistency in just showing up. Here’s to doing our job and hoping our “genius” does his 🙂

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