Inspired

Start writing no matter what.

The water does not run until the faucet is turned on.

-Louis L'Amour

Where does inspiration come from?

I have been wondering that myself lately because frankly I have not felt the zap of lightning that we often call inspiration. To be inspired is to be filled with an irrepressible urge to do something. Not something we can control, we are left to sit around idly, waiting, praying for inspiration to come to us.

Is it possible that we are wrong?

Could inspiration be something that meets us half way? My music teacher told me something his uncle had told to him on the subject of writing. "How do I know I'm a writer?" Was the question. "Simple," was the answer, "I write."

Simple, yes, but not any less significant. To be a writer is to write. Does that mean that everything is going to be infused with wisdom and laced with allusions, parallels, metaphors that will provide the reader with understanding beyond his wildest dreams? No, indeed not. In fact, to be a writer is to, at times, fail utterly. To produce words that trail after one another like a preschool line-up, unregimented, unorganized, and barely recognizable as a line. Only sometimes, however.

Anything worth doing is worth failing at time and time again before the results start to look like something you enjoy. A painter does not stand in front of a canvass every day creating a masterpiece before turning in each night. It takes many canvasses, many do-overs, and many mistakes before the most beautiful creations surface.

Why is it so hard to think of writing this way? Perhaps because writing is not mere art, it is direct communication. It is easy to identify writing that is faulty because the words practically scream at you from the page. They are merciless. They want to be satisfied, and they are very verbal when they are not.

Regardless, it takes mistakes.Without writing, like would be a blank page. Inspiration is the rush of energy we get from drinking in the world around us. What better a place to receive inspiration than from the very words for which we desire to use this inspiration! Write. Never stop. Do it every day, and don't let yourself skip. It may seem meaningless, but let the words come. They may seem intimidating, but they know themselves, and you know them better than you realize. Allow them to fall into place as they will.

Inspiration will come to those who write. ♥