Are you inspired? If so, how did you get that way? If not, what do you imagine would inspire you? The word inspiration, like the word spirit and respiration, has its origins in the Latin word for breath. But the concept of inspiration has come to suggest much more than simply breathing.

Feeling inspired often implies some kind of altered state of consciousness in which all the clouds part and the heavens open up.Artists have used countless methods to get themselves inspired (and many have worked), but the promise of inspiration often comes with a catch. What might inspire at one point –a place, a person, an experience, a journey–might eventually lose its luster and lead to less than inspiring results. Increasing your ability to observe, on the other hand, never ceases to deliver valuable experiences. Observation, unlike inspiration, is available in every moment, regardless of mood, circumstances, or state of mind.While many artists have moments of intense inspiration, artists who sustain their creative edge usually end up relying on the power of perception to deliver new insights and material, rather than emotion or imagination.

So don’t get high, don’t get low, don’t go up and don’t get down, just be where you are and listen, look around, and let the moment bring your next song. Listen to this Soul of Songwriting episode to hear about various ways that you can use your gifts of observation to bring forth an abundant stream of good material and relinquish any unconscious expectations for finding inspiration somewhere or sometime other than “hear and now.”

 

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