Seattle therapist, Joanne della Penta, ATR-BC, LMHC, (fabulous artist and my wonderful friend!) reminds me that creativity set in motion cannot be stopped. It can definitely be slowed. We can chain it down, make it wrong, make ourselves wrong, attach anchors to it, and it will still expand and flow forward. We can hide it in a dark closet and it may grow mold, but it will stay alive for one day, one year, one lifetime.
Creativity can be so inconvenient! It pops up anytime at all, whether or not we are ready or inviting it. Creativity shows its head and we may not have been taught to honor it. We may find it hard to accept that creativity often requires funding–money, energy, time. In fact, we may have been taught that the last thing in the world to give time, money, or energy to is some silly little artistic whim.
BUT! We are inspired. It might seem that some of us are more inspired than others, but I doubt it. I bet some of us have strong enough filters to be able to not notice the inspiration or to push it out of our minds and hearts when it appears. So, what do we do?
Maybe we can begin to consider some new thoughts:
~It is possible that inspiration is as much an important part of us as our IQ, our eye color, our gender.
~Today’s inspiration may be the door to learning something that will be essential for the rest of our lives.
~Inspiration could be guidance or an important message from a Greater Unknown.
We don’t seem to need to justify fears or worries and they are mostly unfounded, so why the need to justify or defend creative inspiration? It seemingly comes from out of the same unknown somewhere as fear and worry and we can actually explain those two experiences. Creative inspiration defies explanation–it just appears.
I have a suggestion: even though you may not understand why, the next time you feel the calling of inspiration, thank the Great Unknown for it. Try accepting it with gratitude. Maybe you won’t need to do anything else at first–just be grateful. One of my favorite sayings “I’m curious about …” could be useful in this situation. “I’m curious about this inspiration/creative desire/artistic calling.” Gratitude and curiosity are a great way to practice accepting anything that’s new and unfamiliar.
I invite you to allow for the possibility that your inspirations can be a gift to your life and they might be a gift to us all. If all inspiration ever did was bring you joy, you are certain to pass a joy-filled smile on to a friend or stranger and make their day. It may be that following an inspiration will lead you on a path of the fulfilling life you’ve always desired. Maybe your next inspiration will be an inspiration to us all!
If you’d like, feel free to try out one of my favorite prayers. I hope it brings you as much joy as it brings me:
“I wasn’t expecting this creative inspiration today! Thank You!”
You can order my newest book, “Your Life Is Your Prayer,” co-authored with BJ GALLAGHER:
Your Life is Your Prayer 