Inspiration in Every Nook and Cranny

By stepsinbetween on August 2, 2024

Inspiration is everywhere…true or false?

As a writer I believe this statement speaks true, however, sometimes I find myself searching for more of a motivational kind of inspiration. The kind that sparks my creativity into actual full-blown action.

I've just returned from vacation where I let nature, and people, and new unseen places sweep me away. I unfolded that creative side of myself and positioned it out to receive. Of course I filled to the brim. Our world is full of curious flowers and fish (even a few turtles), and the most wonderful souls with perspectives and stories to share, not to mention I was constantly enamored by the majestic views. But I wasn't able to sit down at my desk and write every time creativity stirred. I was on vacation!

So instead, I tucked all those new experiences away for a rainy day, or at least until we returned home. Sitting at my computer on my first day back, I found retrieving those captured bits and pieces of random inspiration to be fleeting. The memories were all there, but the urge to act on them had somehow fizzled away.

And that's when it came to me...

Inspiration is everywhere (even in my own backyard), but I must still seek it. I think I was waiting for ingenuity to bite me from behind, springing my mind into easy action. Don't get me wrong, I've experienced moments of rushing motivation, but those kick in the pants experiences aren't necessarily the bread and butter for creatives.

Instead, I realized I need to get down on my hands and knees (literally for me because I start my day with Pilates), but figuratively too, I must tug at the tiniest thread of revelation. Then I follow the silky strand through its woven tight maze, even as it practically slips through my fingers, and pull and pull and pull. Sometimes the thread of an idea comes out smoothly, wrapping snugly around my fingers like a magical glow across my keyboard. Other times, I'm heaved into my own mind, this way and that, evaluating every nook and cranny to relive or rejuvenate something worth crafting.

As the saying, it's not the destination but the journey, strums through my head, I have to believe it's true. I suppose I needed a little reminder that yes inspiration is everywhere. I simply can't be afraid to get my hands dirty to actively seize it. We writers have a way of tucking all kinds of sparkly ideas away in our minds for later retrieval. Sometimes it climbs right onto our laps, but other times, I'm afraid we have to play a little hide and seek!

Happy writing and creating and being inspired,

Celaine Charles

P.S. If you've read any of my books and enjoyed them, I would be ever grateful for a positive review on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, BookBub and/or the like. Reviews help smaller authors like me get noticed more, providing opportunities to bring you more books. Thank you in advance!