The Expectation of Inspiration

One thing I'm INSPIRED to write about after reading through the (inspired) comments of my students is the topic of INSPIRATION when it comes to writing.

A few people noted that it's hard to write -- on a daily basis especially -- if you don't feel inspired to do so. They pointed out that writing only because one is challenged for "forced" to do so can be itself uninspiring, overly difficult, perhaps even a waste of time, and that the results can be a kind of gilted, uneasy writing that no one would want to read anyway. A few others brought up the question of creativity and asked, in different words, whether it was fair to expect any of us to "be creative" when it isn't necessarily something that comes naturally or at least regularly, particularly when it comes to writing.

I think these are valid objections and concerns, but rather than argue against them I'd rather bring up some related questions and then attempt to answer them, provisionally, in this entry.

Most experts on childhood development agree that we are all born with an inherent capacity for invention and creativity. If this is true, and some of us get to the point where we don't feel creative, or don't regard ourselves as the "creative type," then where does that inherent capacity go? If you don't consider yourself a creative person (I've heard this over and over through the years), then why not? What triggers that change of attitude or perspective?

If you pride yourself on being creative, how did you maintain that inherent capacity for creativity through the years? Were you encouraged by certain teachers, your parents? Did someone spot something "creative" in you and make that announcement? Do you remember doing something creative and being rewarded for it in some way that stuck with you?

I won't generalize about anyone's sense of themselves as either creative or ... what's the opposite?... uncreative? However, I will propose something for everyone to consider. Yes, many of us have to *work* at being creative. It doesn't come naturally, or let's say our capacities for creative thought and action tend to be cultivated (in school, in society) less than, say, our capacities for test-taking, media consumption, or shopping.

(Think about this last comparison: How many times have you caught yourself thinking, Gosh, I'm just not very good at going to movies and buying things. I really have to work at my clothes shopping. Coming up with the energy to choose a new cell phone skin is a real challenge for me. Maybe this is true for you! -- but we don't hear this anxeity voiced very often in our society. Why not? And why, conversely, are writing and other forms of creative expression often among those things that we don't celebrate as somehow "natural" or at least "easy" facets of our daily lives?)

But rather than accept as given that writing is a "challenge" that must be confronted, I'd rather operate from the assumption that, indeed, we are all born creative beings -- that human beings are inherently inventive, creative, imaginative, that this separates us from other animals -- and because we are all inherently creative we should EXPECT ourselves to be creative. Sure, we may, to different degrees, have to work at the craft, techniques, and technologies of writing, but I no longer accept this idea, often taken for granted, that some people are inspired and others not, that some are creative and others not.

Let's explore the idea instead that we all find INSPIRATION as easily and naturally as we find air to breathe (and note the similarities of the words "inspiration" and "respiration"). In other words, when it comes to writing -- or at least coming up with some energy for writing -- I don't "challenge" you to be inspired, I EXPECT you to be inspired. I suggest, as well, that you expect the same for yourself. You have it in you. You were born with it. It may be buried under a few years of standardized tests, bad experiences with writing, or layers of Hollywood media saturation, but it's there and maybe all you need to do is expect it of yourselves in order to bring it back to the surface.

I believe, in fact, that if we go into our writing tasks with this expectation of inspiration, then we will find ourselves doing more easily and naturally what before seemed arduous and nearly impossible.

So, I accept that people are busy, preoccupied, and distracted, and that this can make it difficult to FIND YOUR INSPIRATION when it comes to writing. However, I no longer accept as an excuse that you can only write, or write on a daily basis, if you feel inspired to do so or if you find the reading or question or prompt inspiring enough to write about.

Do we wait to feel inspired before we take a breath?
Do we expect the air to inspire us to breathe?
Do we wait for an inspiring breeze to come along before we take our first breath in the morning?
If we're finding it hard to breathe (because of asthma, a bad cold, a smoking neighbor, smog, pollution), do we blame the air itself for that difficulty or discomfort?

Now, this is a slippery analogy, but I hope you get my point. And I don't mean to suggest that I expect you, all of a sudden, to emerge from your cocoon and start writing freely for hours at a time, a new butterfly taking flight on the winds of newly found inspiration! All I ask, really, is that you consider this question of inspiration as just that -- a question -- and think about what you've grown to expect of yourselves as writers. Maybe you expect a lot. Maybe you expect very little. Maybe you've decided that others who read your writing shouldn't expect very much. What are your expectations when it comes to writing?

Take a deep breath and start writing. From this point on, I expect you to be inspired.

Does that help or not? What does that mean to you? Is it possible to make inspiration a course requirement???