How to find Inspiration?

[gloci]

I know Angela and Midas girl have given me their opinions on this but I'd just like to throw it out into the wider community.

I don't think I get any inspiration. Nothing that would cause me to jump out of my seat and immediately start that task.

Starting this thread may have been inspiration though I'm not so sure.. I was journaling and I said to myself that I should start a thread on my difficulties with inspiration. And then the flow of journaling kind of stopped so I presumed I was supposed to do this and got slightly inspired.

Is inspiration to a certain degree logical? Like asking yourself what's the best thing I could do now?

So basically what I want to know is how to find inspiration

[Angela]

I think you're still thinking of inspiration as something outside yourself -- something you "find" or not.

Inspiration isn't something you *have* -- it's something you *do.*

[MidasGirl]

You "find" inspiration everywhere, any time. Between the couch crevices, under the dining table, on the blue car driving past your house, in a movie, from the child who smiles at you at the grocery store, in something your lover says or does, etc etc.

Yesterday I "found" inspiration on Facebook. Erin P had a status update about forgiveness, and it inspired me to write a note to somebody letting them know that I was forgiving myself for any blaming thoughts I've had about them. I did it spontaneously and without much "logical thinking". I did it for myself. I wasn't hoping or expecting anything out of it. But it got that person curious and they emailed me to ask me what inspired me to write that note. Aaaah! So it opened a communication door that seemed like it had closed in a frustrating way.

Here's my tip. If you feel inspired, and it feels good, just go for it. Don't try to reason it out, think it through, have an argument with yourself etc. Just go for it. Wow yourself with the results. And thank me later.

[theknightwhosaysni-NI]

Interesting question! When Steve suggested that riding inspiration and riding waves in the ocean were similar, I instantly made a comparison between these two kinds of "rinding", because I've been a surfer for about 10 years now, so at least I know how to catch real waves

So instead of just "finding inspiration" you may want to learn how to "ride" inspiration, and proceed like if you wanted to surf waves in the ocean...

So :
1) Be ready for it. Be in a clean state of mind. Sleep well, eat well, exercice regularly (The more you're in a peak state, the best it is to catch the waves).
For surfers, there's a specific spot where they need to paddle out in order to catch waves, and it is called the peak (!). (and it's not always easy to get there).

2) Look for the waves. Train to feel small surges of inspiration. They come and go throughout the day. Just like MidasGirl said : "You find inspiration everywhere, any time."
For some reason begineer surfers often look towards the shore, but experienced surfers always look towards the sea to see the waves coming.

3 ) When you feel a small surge of inspiration, turn in the right direction, and paddle ! (like a wave surfer needs to paddle to catch the wave). Methaphorically speaking, it means you need get quickly into motion.

4 ) Enjoy the ride . Once you're got in motion, you're pushed by the wave and action is effortless.

Hope this comparison makes sense (at least I enjoyed doing it )

[DonnaBiz]

I've been wondering about the "finding" part.

I already consider myself a willing responder. Just a difference in terms, I guess. Whenever the Universe delivers something I feel like is "should" act on, I go for it because I know the benefits will be huge.

Now, I'm thinking that the SHOULD part is probably limiting. I'm going to see if I can open that up a little wider and get more stuff to show up so I can willingly respond to THAT.

This (sorry!) should be fun!

[James81]

Put it on milk cartons.

Nice av.

[Lena Carpenter]

Huh, I think that's a really great question. Be aware that some people spend a lot of times in their heads, so your inspiration could be just a thought, that feels better than others or different in some way. For example, I feel like I associated something exciting for me with guilt in the past because I've been taught to do what's right, not what feels good. So when I really really want something and feel a familiar twinge of guilt, it's inspiration! Of course, you don't have to feel the guilt part lol Also, beware not to expect any "practical" type of inspirations at first. Sometimes, inspiration could just be to relax and have a cup of tea. That's my take on it, but I'd like to have more inspiration in my life too!

P.S. Oh, and something occurred to me, when I clicked send. Inspiration maybe kind of like intuition. If you don't act on it, it becomes a lot smaller, until you almost can't detect it anymore.

[Jasper]

First off: Nice avatar, it inspired me to reply!

I don't think you go look for inspiration. You can't find it, it finds you.
On the other hand, if you have goals you want to achieve bad enough, inspiration will find you.

Perhaps you don't really want what you want bad enough?

[gloci]

Originally Posted by theknightwhosaysni-NI

Interesting question! When Steve suggested that riding inspiration and riding waves in the ocean were similar, I instantly made a comparison between these two kinds of "rinding", because I've been a surfer for about 10 years now, so at least I know how to catch real waves

So instead of just "finding inspiration" you may want to learn how to "ride" inspiration, and proceed like if you wanted to surf waves in the ocean...

So :
1) Be ready for it. Be in a clean state of mind. Sleep well, eat well, exercice regularly (The more you're in a peak state, the best it is to catch the waves).
For surfers, there's a specific spot where they need to paddle out in order to catch waves, and it is called the peak (!). (and it's not always easy to get there).

2) Look for the waves. Train to feel small surges of inspiration. They come and go throughout the day. Just like MidasGirl said : "You find inspiration everywhere, any time."
For some reason begineer surfers often look towards the shore, but experienced surfers always look towards the sea to see the waves coming.

3 ) When you feel a small surge of inspiration, turn in the right direction, and paddle ! (like a wave surfer needs to paddle to catch the wave). Methaphorically speaking, it means you need get quickly into motion.

4 ) Enjoy the ride . Once you're got in motion, you're pushed by the wave and action is effortless.

Hope this comparison makes sense (at least I enjoyed doing it )

That was a really good analogy thanks

Originally Posted by Lena Carpenter

P.S. Oh, and something occurred to me, when I clicked send. Inspiration maybe kind of like intuition. If you don't act on it, it becomes a lot smaller, until you almost can't detect it anymore.

I notice this actually. Very true.

Originally Posted by Jasper

First off: Nice avatar, it inspired me to reply!

I don't think you go look for inspiration. You can't find it, it finds you.
On the other hand, if you have goals you want to achieve bad enough, inspiration will find you.

Perhaps you don't really want what you want bad enough?

I'm not really sure what I want tbh

So to sum all those posts up,

-Be in peak state

-Don't reason it out, just go for it

-Look for waves and be aware for them

-Get into action as soon as you can as it becomes a lot smaller until you
almost can't detect it anymore

-Enjoy the ride. When your on the wave, action is effortless

Thanks guys for all your help

[xfactor]

I think there's no need to look for inspiration. Just do whatever needs to be done, whether you feel good about it or not. Chasing after the inspired state will only distract you from getting things done, IMHO.

[YogaHound]

Consider that you may not be open to inspiration. I speak from personal experience. I started the 30 day inspiration challenge on a weekend and when Monday arrived and I had to return to work, the feelings of inspiration shut off. This bothered me for a few days until I realized that in order to get through the work week I blocked out feelings of inspiration. This realization is quite enlightning!

The feelings of inspiration are small at this point and I act on them. I see I am not willing to make major changes in my work life at this time. I direct my energy to understanding the reasons at this time and act on inspiration in other areas of my life. Best of luck to you.

[gloci]

Originally Posted by YogaHound

Consider that you may not be open to inspiration. I speak from personal experience. I started the 30 day inspiration challenge on a weekend and when Monday arrived and I had to return to work, the feelings of inspiration shut off. This bothered me for a few days until I realized that in order to get through the work week I blocked out feelings of inspiration. This realization is quite enlightning!

The feelings of inspiration are small at this point and I act on them. I see I am not willing to make major changes in my work life at this time. I direct my energy to understanding the reasons at this time and act on inspiration in other areas of my life. Best of luck to you.

About 40% of my waking time is usually taken up by things that I don't want to do; chores and the like.

So to a certain extent this may be causing me to block out inspiration I suppose..

[Ekb]

Some more analogy to surfing for ya!

Catching Inspiration Waves

1. Face the source of inspiration. So always looking towards the things you know are better. Just like you'd never turn your back on the ocean because waves can be unpredictable and you don't want to get dumped by them! Or maybe you do... It'll be short but kind of fun and painful... Then you have to paddle back out.

2. Get fit and prepared for the sweet spot. It maybe fun training on the whitewash but sooner or later you may want to get out to the real waves... You can get there easier and be left with more energy if you treat your body and mind well, getting out there is way harder than catching the wave sometimes! That leads to...

3. Chose your area! Some places have rocks, others rips, pulling power, cold, warm... the place you probably want is the wave with the 40 second barrel! (somewhere in Indonesia) This is the thing that really gets you going when it's got you and really gets you going good! Or you could choose the massive ocean waves but you may need something to get there...

4. People on Jetskis! Thus to ride the wave (of 'spiration') you may also need pals... They'll give you tips on the right equipment to use, best times to try, what to look for, it is always good to go with a buddy if you are inexperienced, or at least go where a few others are. Observe and learn.

5. Notice things... your surroundings bring you the most inspiration... Not the actual catching of. Enjoy the ride down, even if you can't do any cool tricks, even if you get hammered, then paddle back out until you've had enough.

[Savage]

Simply ask for it.

Look up and say to the universe, "I'm ready to receive inspiration. Shower it upon me."

[gloci]

I just did that thank you Steve