Call it the spark. Can it the flash. Creative inspiration!!!
Inspiration can hit at any time, at any place, and for no apparent reason. I would receive these “flashes” of inspiration quite a lot. Then I would promptly think “Oh, that’s nice” and forget about it, moving on with my life.
For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, let me clarify this concept, inspiration is the thing that hits you when you least expect it.
Perhaps you’re driving along and suddenly you get a flash, strong thought, or cosmic nudge which says, “take up fly fishing as a hobby.”
Now comes the crucial moment.
Do you:
A) think you have inhaled too many exhaust fumes
B) dismiss the notion as totally ludicrous
C) pay close attention because your potential is coming through.
For most of my life, I chose B. Sometimes I chose A, but let’s face it, how many times can you blame the air?
One day I was bored. I got a flash – a big one – one that I have had many times over the years. BE A WRITER!
Of course, my first response was – ‘I’m not good enough to write. Who would want to read it? In fact, now that I think about it, I stopped myself from doing a lot of things by believing those four little words – I’M NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
How many times have I sabotaged myself before I ever gave myself a chance? I’m sorry to say, too numerous to count. But then this happened…
It was a Tuesday I will never forget. I woke up and my first thought was ‘today you will quit your full-time job and write a children’s book.’ The message was so strong I could not ignore it (believe me I tried). EEK!
Decision time.
Would I yet again ignore the inspiration? Not this time!
I gave my notice at work and leaped. It was odd how calm I was given the magnitude of what I was doing. All my security was being stripped away and I was left with this certainty that I was doing the right thing. Don’t get me wrong, there were many days that I asked myself, “Are you nuts!?”
My days were spent researching, writing, and editing my first beloved children’s book. Inspiration struck again when I created a journal and coloring book for kids. I continue to trust the process.
We all get random thoughts. I believe this is how the Divine communicates with us.
The key to figuring out these messages is to pay attention and keep track of those thoughts and see where they lead. An easy way to do this is to have a small notebook to write down all those seemingly random notions, thoughts, and inspirations. Without judgment!
Don’t dismiss the information just because it doesn’t make sense to you. Keep with it. One random thought might not make sense but a series of random thoughts might show you a pattern.
Look at each one of the items on your list. What do they have in common? Are they leading you to a new career, or a location for your new home, or helping you solve a problem?
If you are struggling, you can always ask the Divine to give you the information in a way you will understand!
Have fun with it. Put your detective hat on and try to solve the mystery.
There is a great article from the Harvard Business Review, “Why Inspiration Matters.” While I believe that inspiration does come from the Divine, there are some great points to be made in this article.