That feeling, like we can do anything. Like we can achieve anything. That feeling of excitement and passion and need and lust for life and living. It’s the best and the worst part of what we do.
I’ve never been able to understand it. Or understand my own dependence on it. Understand why I have to search for it and why my sources dry up from time to time, leaving me with nothing.
But this thing called inspiration — it’s both a curse and a gift, when you find it. It’s what drives our best work, while simultaneously forcing our best work to depend on feelings and energies that aren’t always in our control.
I think it’s vital to be aware of what inspires us, and what doesn’t. To be aware of who we are when inspiration strikes, and who we can be when we draw on it. But it’s also vital to find a way to let go of it and to be able to create without it.
If we can’t do that, we’re dependent on the right state of mind in order to do any work at all. We’re dependent on the right state of mind in order to get the job done and finish our days. That’s pretty rough, and it can be highly limiting.
It’s important to be able to push through with or without inspiration. To use it as a tool, not as your life-blood. If you can work alongside it, that’s fantastic, but if you’re completely dependent on it, you open yourself up to a pretty tough situation.
[This post by Jon Westenberg first appeared on Medium and has been reproduced with permission.]
