Fleeting Inspiration

Fleeting Inspiration

                At times of gripping inspiration I often want to do everything in the world. I want to do or be that totem of inspiration that I’ve witnessed. But that specific thing that has inspired me is not my story. The moment I realize that, I’m completely lost in my own life again. That inspiration is still building inside of me, it’s just no longer on a solid foundation and will eventually fall.

                I have so many things I’d love to do with my life, but don’t have the means to do them. It is true that anything is possible, but sometimes what is possible, is not always in our best interest.  How then do we satisfy our inspiration? Inspiration is a fleeting thing; it comes to us and leaves quickly if left un-nurtured. Those times when we read a line in a book, watch a movie, see a picture, or see a good deed that touches us to such a level that it’s all we can feel, those times have the power to define a part of us if we can focus that overwhelming power on something within our means of doing. And we always have to remember that we will not be able to do things perfectly the first try or even the second or third. We will be discouraged and our inspiration will leave us frequently. Sometimes it’s one single thing that is inspiring us that we can keep going back to in order to renew that inspiration when things become mundane; other times it takes something new each time to keep us going. It doesn’t really matter how you become inspired, but what you do when you’re inspired that has true effect on our lives. When that rushing feeling consumes you, don’t try to contain in within your mind only; let that power run through your entire body and focus that energy to one aspiration. Don’t spread yourself thin. Let your inspiration consume you, but control the way it consumes you, take a deep breath and learn to focus your attention in a productive way. When you feel like your inspiration is gone, push yourself to finish your project anyway. It may not be gone, it may have just settled inside of you allowing you to have a clear thought process and to be able to take your time instead of feeling rushed by your own mind. If things still don’t come together after a while, try forgetting about it entirely for  a day or two and let your subconscious work it out for you and bring it back to your attention when the idea is ready. But you must be ready to act when you know what the next step is and not let it pass you by.
               Remember that inspiration requires you to take a leap of faith and keep moving forward. It does not dwell in one place for long; especially not in areas of comfort. Inspiration is a fleeting thing. 

I Am a Writer

I Am a Writer

            I am participating in the Writing Contest: You Are A Writer held by Positive Writer at http://positivewriter.com/writing-contest-you-are-a-writer/ and this is my story:

I have been writing since I was just a little girl, although, I never considered myself a writer until this past year. I started with journal writing, then short stories, and now I write poems and songs. I believe that if it wasn't for my early journal writing I wouldn't be writing now. Writing my daily stories about everything that had been happening to me led me to love writing. I knew that one day I could look back on those entries and remember and cherish every forgotten moment of my life. I loved writing my personal life’s story and I still do to this day. I loved writing my own story so much that I wanted to start writing other stories too. I wanted to not only write my real life story, but also the story of all my fantasies and daydreams. I wrote as much of my daydream adventures as I could but I found that I could never finish any of them because I could never bring myself to finish a daydream for sheer fear that it would simply end and I would be left without my hero’s that I had created.

            After I realized I would never give up my hero’s in order to finish the story, I decided to turn to something that would come and go; something I could write down to be able to look at for the rest of my life, or to get it out of my system by putting it on a piece of paper. I turned to poems. I've written dozens of them but have felt like they were nothing but mediocre and not worth letting anybody else see. I kept them to myself for a long time until I started talking to some of my friends and told them that I had been writing. They wanted to see my work but I didn't feel like they were good enough to show anyone else. They persisted and told me that they couldn't be any worse than their own work. I still did not want them to see that part of my soul. It was enough that I told them about my writings. Instead of showing my friends my work, I decided to get unbiased opinions from people who had never met me. I found a website, www.writers-network.com, that allows people to post their work online and get reviews and rating from others on it. Immediately people started critiquing my work. I remember how excited I got when someone read my work and liked it or gave me advice on how to improve. I got on that website every day. Ever since then I have loved sharing my work with others; it has led to deep, heart-felt discussions and drawing closer to others even if just for a moment.

            After I had posted several of my writings online, I still only told people that “I write”, not that I’m a writer. There were a few instances when I would question myself on whether I’m a writer or not and I would almost tell myself that I am, but at the end of the day it was only “I write”. It wasn't until I was on another website, Pinterest.com, that I came across a picture that said “Never say ‘I’m not a runner’. If you run, you are a runner”. That’s when I let myself actually be not only a runner, but a writer as well. I felt like I had just become something; like I hadn't let myself be anything before. Before I was simply testing the waters of life, but not actually swimming in them for fear of failing. But those simple little words that I had probably heard a thousand times before threw me into a mindset that allowed me to let things happen as they may and not always have an excuse to get out of failure. I am a writer. No apologies. No excuses.