“Accidentally find a speck of dust from distant countries on a pocket knife - and the world will again appear strange, wrapped in a colored fog” - this stanza is from a poem by Alexander Blok. And here is one more - from the great Anna Akhmatova: "… If only you knew from what rubbish poetry grows without knowing shame …". Both of them are about the sources of the miracle called inspiration.
Inspiration … Divine and devilish, blind and illuminating, dim and clear. The great masters of rhymes could not create in his absence: Pushkin called him winged, Sologub - wild, Nadson - brooding, Zhukovsky - light. Someone has it a rare guest, and the favorites of the muses call such artisans. There is another extreme - outbursts of inspiration, similar to manifestations of mental illness, turning the creator into a serious test for those around him.
Inspiration: a gift for all or just a select few?
There is, perhaps, no sphere of activity in which inspiration would not visit a person. Then a miracle happens and any undertaking “blooms with roses”, like a basket in the dream of a coal-miner from Green's “Scarlet Sails”. But the daily routine makes a person indifferent to an occupation that until recently seemed exciting and interesting. The reason for stagnation is lack of inspiration.
Inspiration is a dear and welcome guest, but not punctual. His late arrival, or even a postponed visit, is understandable: the uplift does not always cope with everyday troubles, material problems, moral adversity. The result of "no spark" work is not necessarily bad, especially if the work is done by a master of his craft. However, it is believed that masterpieces in any genre of art are the fruit of illumination from above.
What muses don't like
It is a serious mistake to create ideal conditions for the coming of inspiration. A kitchen sparkling with the latest technology does not guarantee the hostess the creation of a culinary miracle. A cozy studio and the lulling tranquility of everyday life will not provide a sculptor or artist alone with amazing creations. A composer, musician or singer who has a super-recording studio is far from always advantageous against the background of less well-to-do fellows in the workshop.
Often encountering inspiration at the beginning of a creative career, people hope that climbing the social ladder, improving conditions for creativity and similar life improvements will only increase the potential for "inspiration" and the number of insights. And as a result, they get calmness, narcissism, lose curiosity and interest, closing the soul from the emotions that once awakened creative impulses.
How to find the keys to inspiration
Where does inspiration go? Doesn't go anywhere. It remains close by, unable to break through the barriers of habits, indifference, snobbery. Sometimes it is expelled deliberately, as it does not correspond to someone's notions of the level or intensity of creative impulses. But a great many people who are in love with their work will say that the source of inspiration is magically available: you need to recreate the environment in which the elation once inspired you.
Inspiration will rush in a wave at the sounds of a forgotten melody, squeeze your heart while reading a good book, tickle a dandelion in your nose with a parachute. A walk in a quiet corner of the park, a trip to nature will bring back to the soul the feeling of novelty of every day. Communication with interesting people, the desire to acquaint them with the creative side of their own nature will also lead to a meeting with inspiration. Another of the sure paths leading to frequent meetings with the muse is the desire to see the new in the known, the studied, to preserve the child's faith in the closeness and reality of a charming fairy tale.
