Inspiration is about noticing

The process of creating often begins with inspiration. What inspires you?

Creativity is all about action. When we create anything we take something from inside us and turn it into something else. What we create and how we create share a close relationship.

I loved Stephen Nachmanovitch’s new book, The Art of Is: Improvising as a Way of Life. Click here to read a short excerpt from the book. He writes about notes and tones. My jaw dropped when he highlighted that both words share the same letters. We think music is about notes, but is it more about tones?

In my voice lessons we have been working on tones, focusing on creating resonance. When I shift from paying attention to the notes to paying attention to the tones, the sound and feeling intensify in their depth. He talks about the importance of listening with the whole body, not just through the ears, listen is touch. Think through the eyes.
 

Finding inspiration is about noticing, being present and paying attention to what is happening now, listening with your whole body. When I can go through a day empty of expectation and open to surprise, the creative energy vibrates at the most exciting levels and ideas pop up. The tone of the day changes.

My understanding evolved over time from looking for inspiration to listening for inspiration, searching for something specific to becoming completely open to whatever arrives.

Sometimes it’s the phrasing someone uses in conversation that inspires me or the way the light creates shadows on the trees on the commute home.
 
 Continue to look for surprising connections in your day.

“For millions of years, mankind lived just like the animals. Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk and we learned to listen. Speech has allowed the communication of ideas, enabling human beings to work together to build the impossible. Mankind's greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn't have to be like this. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future. With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.”

― Stephen Hawking

What do you need to create every day? Think in terms of time, place, and state of being...

When you were a child, what did creative play look like for you? What changed as you moved into your teen years? As an adult, how do you express yourself?​

We are all story. Everyone's story deserves to be shared. When we share our stories through the arts we connect to a place deep within ourselves. We find healing. We capture possibilities. We feel as though we are alive in the world instead of merely passing through it. Attending to the artist within us can connect us to a life driven by intention and meaning.

In this video I talk about creativity and the writing process.