Over at Chase Jarvis, there's a post commenting on the lack of discussion about artistic inspiration and the challenges we face in a profession that depends on it.
He writes, "The relative lack of such discussion in the photo blogosphere should be of no surprise, really. It's clearly the toughest part of the art equation to describe and discuss, as so adroitly illustrated here by my choppy, fragmented introduction. All the more reason to continue with the mission.
That said--and armed only with my own ignorance and a willingness to go somewhat naked--I'm going to embark on a personal challenge to begin sharing the roots of my own experiences and challenges in a constant search for inspiration. I'll call this forthcoming series, for lack of a better idea, Inspired By_Challenged By. In truth, I wanted to call it something even more corny like Inspired Confessions, but I realized that was just a defense mechanism trying to get me to downplay the reality of what I'm trying to get at. Earlier tonight in the drafting process, I even had the horrible working title of something all-inclusive like What Makes Us Tick. I quickly realized that such a title was kind of bullshit and/or presumptive. How could I claim any knowledge of YOUR inspirations, motivations, or challenges?
In the end I've decided on calling the series simply Inspired By_Challenged By out of go ol' plain honesty. It is what it is. Over the next short days/weeks/months, I'll aim to occasionally share things that, for one reason or another, get my brain bubbling or, conversely, get my panties in a knot. Whether it's a photo, a moment, a realization, a book, a song, a magazine, an artist; or something more chewy like a personal struggle, a stumble, or some downright strife. Anything will be fair game, especially thoughts or ruminations thereof."
It's something I think about all the time. Where do our ideas come from? How can we continue to be inspired? Is there such a thing as a Muse? A few months ago I was in the very middle of an artistic dry spell and it was a dreadful place to be. It seems no matter how many "dry spells" I experience, there's always this fear that all my "best" ideas are gone, that I won't be able to truly create again. I often wonder if this is some sort of neurotic mind game I play with myself or whether all creatives experience this underlying fear. It's as though I forget that everything I want or need to express, all those emotions, ideas and experiences are already within me. Julia Cameron's Morning Pages reiterate this. The pages she encourages us to write every morning can be thought of as meditation, where "we acquire and eventually acknowledge our connection to an inner power source that has the ability to transform our outer world."
