Creative Inspiration for Writers and Artists

Where do you find your energy? Is it from nature, work, friends, prayer, routine, discord, arguments, love, money? Where is your joy? If you feel stuck in a dead-end job or a dead-end relationship, look beyond. Our lives are lived for tiny moments of recognition. We may recognize the story of our life from a photograph, a movie, a novel, a poem, a song, a symphony, a painting, or a child. Allow this recognition to connect you for a short time to your story on this blue and green rock.

We will not make an impression beyond our small window of existence. We will not change the relentless path of destruction and creation that is our nature. We will not see the far corners of our rock beyond our cubicle and kitchen. Our story will remain.

For inspiration, I found a creative portal for blogging artists: http://http//www.creativity-portal.com/ Here you will find links to inspiring writers, musicians, painters, photographers, or anyone who is on an inspirational and creative journey. Every story is different, but somehow recognizable.

f we look into our past, we will find someone who has inspired our creativity. Julius Lester was my inspiration. When I was a student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, I enrolled in a popular course called "Religion in Western Literature". I was so inspired by this man's spirit that I continued to take courses with him. His theory of the "story" in our lives will be with me always. The following is an excerpt from his October 13, 2007 blog:

• "For me writing is not self-expression. Instead it is my way of reaching out to people I do not know and will never know and seeking to be known. Writing brings me into intimate relationship with others, a mysterious relationship since I do not see them and they do not see me. Writing is at once a solitary act and a social one in which rune-carver and reader come together and know themselves and each other. You and I wander along the densely bordered trails of our lives, trails closed in by meals to be cooked, children whose hurts and joys need our tending when we feel scarcely able to tend our own hurts and joys, marriages that periodically seem to start unraveling before our very eyes and sometimes cannot be knit anew; and there is always the car that needs fixing and the letter from American Express telling us to please leave home without it. And lo, in the midst of the detritus and flotsam of our lives, the trail leads into a clearing, and there a beech staff stands, plunged into the earth like a sliver of moonbeam. We stop and read the runes so painfully and painstaking inscribed thereon, and if the beech staff has been inscribed lovingly, if we can see specks of the writer's blood in the cracks of a rune or two, we find our heads nodding slowly in amazed recognition that someone else knows and put it into words. We are confirmed and recognized and say a quiet but audible, "Yes, yes. That is how it is." That is what reading is, whether you are an adult or a child. It is the shock of recognition. Reading is the means through which we are led to say Yes to ourselves and that densely bordered trail of our lives. Through reading we are given words and through words we gain the power to subdue chaos and tame storms. Reading gives us back to ourselves in a way nothing else and no one else can. Ultimately it enables us to say yes, yes - and then continue on with the mystery of this journey we call our lives." acommonplacejbl.blogspot.com

Look into your own past. Was there a teacher, friend, priest or pastor who connected with your spirit? Draw on your memories of their connection. If it was someone who has since passed away, cherish their teachings. If it is someone still living, reconnect the relationship. The recognition of a common journey never goes away. Pass this gift on to the next generation. If you find someone who looks to you for guidance, don't be afraid to give your advice and wisdom. You will be inspired by their wide-eyed wonder. You may be the mentor who changes their life.

Poetry is my inspiration. In these small packages, you will find delicious gems:

Self-Portrait by Erica Jong

She was not a slender woman,

but her skin was milk mixed in with strawberry jam

& between her legs the word purple was born

& her hair was the color of wheat & yellow butter.

Her eyes were dark as the North Atlantic sea.

She learned the untranslatable words of dawn.

She studied her own fear & wrote its verses.

She used the hole in her heart to play wind-music.

She built her book-houses over her empty cellar.

She nursed on the muse at first,

then became her own mother.

Find your own poetic inspiration. Search for the poet who speaks to you. In less than a minute, a poem will inspire you to great heights.

I'm also inspired by quotes. Again, search for your own muse. Quotes are amazing because they are unscripted, unrehearsed, and honest. When you come across one that speaks to you, write it down. It will surely speak to you again.

I've had better times of course--the halcyon days, rings, ringlets, ashes of roses, shit, chantilly, high teas, drop scones, serge suits, binding attachments, all that. Edna O'Brien

Write your own quotes and post them on the fridge. Why not? If they inspire you, then embrace them. Perhaps they evoke a calming memory. Or maybe they remind you of your strength and beauty.

She squeezed the essential juice from the lemon and ran it through her tangled hair. Cailin Gallagher

You may find inspiration from stories, mentors, novels, poetry, music, art, or nature. You may find it in a Dr. Seussian boat or with a goat, but where-ever you find it, embrace it as your own.