What is Inspiration? Understanding the Creative Spirit
I was talking to a friend of mine who is feeling kind of trapped in her life. She believes she only has a few options in life, none of which are any good. Then I heard a story on the radio about a woman on welfare who felt trapped because she had two kids and just a high school education. Her husband could not read or write. She felt that her only hope was to go to school and get more education, but the government was pulling the plug on her benefits so she was forced to drop out until her husband could earn enough money for them to attend school.
What amazes me is that people really believe their only options are to either 1) get a job or 2) go to school. While those can be good options, the reality is that people have many more options than that. It’s just that the limiting beliefs they’ve been raised with by their family and society at large cause them to assume, and the keyword is “assume,” that they only have a few limited options. This really bothered me and caused me to really want to get this information on inspiration out there because, from my perspective, this woman has lots of options – she just doesn’t see them. Many of us in this society are that way. What I realize is that inspiration can be a door to a much more meaningful, fulfilling, and abundant life. No matter your status, education, or situation, inspiration is a door that many of us can go through to a larger world full of hope and possibility. The thing is, most people have no clue about this.
They see glimpses of it when they have an impulsive inspired feeling or idea, but they usually quickly dismiss the feeling as nothing more than just a passing fancy. They let what I call the “logical mind” talk them out if it. The sad part is that by not following this inspirational energy, they have cut themselves off from the very thing that could get them out of their problems and to the life they really want. I see this happening all the time. I do it too, but now I can recognize inspiration and I have also learned to ignore the “logical mind” or what some call the “critic.”
It is such a simple thing actually. What many people don’t understand is that this energy is EVERYTHING. If they really knew what being touched by this energy meant, they would jump up and down and thank God because to be touched by this energy is a true gift from heaven. Step one is to understand that when you feel inspired, it is so much more than just a good feeling; it is basically God coming over and saying “Hey, want to play?” But even if you understand this intellectually, the real key is to know what it feels like because it is the feeling recognition of this energy that is most important.
When you are inspired, it’s an energy flow. This is, again, not just a good feeling your body happens to be having that day. This energy is God’s creative energy, which is basically love or love energy. This energy is creative and has intelligence. This is why when you feel inspired, you feel pregnant or like you “just have to get it out.” You also have a feeling that you can’t get it out fast enough. And the reason this is, is because you are a channel for this energy; it is not coming from you but through you. All you really have to do is get out of the way. Since this is love energy, you will feel joyous when you let this energy flow through you. This is why you feel so good expressing it.
This energy is all “want to”; there is nothing you “should do” or “have to do” with this energy. All we “have to do” is let it flow. When this energy is flowing, you do not want to stop. Everything in you wants to let it flow. You feel pulled by some invisible force. And you are being pulled, guided toward a higher destiny.
The thing is, the smallest and simplest situation can be the catalyst for starting this energy flow or for inspiring you. It is important that when you are inspired, you go with it. Many times we judge the form of the inspiration, not realizing that it will evolve into higher and higher forms. We let the logic, critical mind talk us into closing off the flow.
For example, you might while driving have a feeling to stop at a particular store, or cook a certain dish, or pick up a pencil and start to draw something. One day you might get the urge to build something or make something; you don’t know why, you just feel like it. Well, that’s inspiration. But what usually happens? The critical logical mind steps in and says all kinds of negative things like: “What are you thinking, you don’t have time for that,” or “You can’t cook,” or “You can’t afford to spend money making such and such,” or “What makes you think you can do such and such?”
You get the idea. The trick is to ignore that voice and do whatever you feel inspired to do anyway. Follow the energy let it flow and go along for the ride. Of course that will require faith and trust and for you to let go of expectations, but don’t worry, it will be a wonderful adventure that will take you to exactly where you need to be.
