Cultivating Inspiration; a simple, practical way

   

Where would an artist be without inspiration? Inspiration is the forever blossoming guide aiding people daily as we live, breath, and create. To me he is like the pair of eyes and ears I don't always have but always need, leading me to see beyond the normal, beyond daily routine, and into sacred, treasured beauty. Inspiration speaks, and speaks specifically different to each person. For me I find inspiration in the way sun shines on the tops of leaves, I find it in shades of green, I find it in Lydian modes and the sound of wind chimes, I find it in the simplest things like a cup of coffee or gusts of wind, I could list hundreds of different things that, when encountered or seen or heard, bring up a surge of bubbling creativity, joy, and that indescribable feeling called inspiration. What inspires me may not inspire others, every person is different, the key is to find what specifically inspires you and to cultivate it!
     They say inspiration comes and goes as it pleases, but I believe it can always stay and is always speaking if you can learn to cultivate it. The definition of cultivate according to Webster's dictionary is to foster growth. One small way I started cultivating inspiration was by daily taking note of the way inspiration spoke to me. I would go through my day very attentive to his voice, and whenever I felt my heart swell and respond to something I saw or smelled or touched I would simply jot down what it was that inspired me and why it inspired me. Sometimes they would be so small I would almost miss them. But as I daily began writing down what he spoke to me in the pages of my journal, I soon wouldn't live a day without feeling inspiration seeping out of every pore of my life, even the most practical and seemingly mundane things would breath beauty into my being. The more I began focusing on inspirations voice in my life, the louder and more consistent it became, not because he wasn't speaking loud and consistently already but because my ears were becoming more and more attentive and I was actually taking the time to stop, hear, and dwell upon what he said by taking these little notes. I began to know the sound of his voice, become familiar with it, and the way he specifically spoke to me. Light cast upon leaves, shades of green, Lydian modes, and wind chimes weren't just ordinary things anymore, they became treasured and cherished ways that I could truly feel god coming close and feel inspiration filling my soul.
     Inspiration's voice is like a plant in my life that if I take the time to tend to it, it grows big and green and gives me fruit; which is a more joyful, alive, full, and beautiful life. So why wouldn't I cultivate this treasured voice that willingly brings the sweetest cup of life to my heart just because? Inspiration is a most faithful, playful friend who can turn any boring, normal life into the richest, deepest, sweetest life there ever was. That IS his job after all; let him do his job, and discover the ways that only he can speak to you. Get to know his voice in your life like you would get to know a friend; slow, steady, and patiently.
      With each new season that comes I like to ask myself what my creative disciplines could look like. Each season is different because each season ebbs and flows with busyness. Some seasons I can spend more time with my crafts and creative ventures then others, but for me, recording his voice in my journal has been a very simple and sustainable way for me to stay inspired and keep my well primed and full no matter what season of life. I don't always have the time to spend hours creating every day, but I do have a few minutes every day to quickly jot these inspirations down! So my encouragement to you is this; buy a new journal, one that obviously inspires you! And start to take little notes every day of the way you feel inspired, be aware of your heart and the way it responds to things around you, and see your life overflow with rich inspiration.