Have you ever felt the need, the impulse, to do something great? Have you ever felt a spark of inspiration ignite, sometimes rekindle, a fire in your heart? I often get these inspirations from the smallest stimuli in my life. As a child, though, I had very little imagination. I couldn't play with toys, I didn't have an imaginary best friend, and I couldn't even draw, although it was my favorite thing in the world.
I liked to draw a lot as a child. At one point, my all time favorite job in the world was to be an artist for Walt Disney. I'd grab a pencil and paper, enthusiastic to draw something interesting... but nothing would come. I was lost. I felt like someone needed to tell me what to create. Anything I drew came from cartoons... none of it was mine. My mom was proud of my drawings. She'd often brag to her friends that I drew for hours and made many works of art. I, on the other hand, knew all too well that most of those hours were spent doing nothing. It consisted of me staring at a blank piece of paper. Whatever I did draw didn't impress me. I quickly gave up on my dream.
I didn't know how people could create new or amazing things. I felt as if there was a meeting that every human being had been invited to and I was left out. I personally think it was television and video games that stripped me of my imagination. I can't remember a time when I didn't have television shows to watch and video games to play. My brain became a limp muscle, incapable of squeezing out profound thoughts. I was too young to realize I needed inspiration.
Today, I am a young man driven by inspiration. Often times, the only time I write on my blog anymore is when I'm inspired. Something will happen in my life and my eyes will grow wide and I'll think, "Hey, that'll be interesting to talk about..." It's the same with my music. I taught myself how to play guitar, but I'm mediocre. Sometimes, I'll hear an interesting song and I'll want to duplicate it. I'll pick up my guitar, I'll search online for the tabulature or notes and I'll practice it intensely until it sounds good to me.
It's too bad that the inspiration dies out though. There is obviously no schedule to my blog posts. I'm not a daily or weekly or monthly writer. I write when I'm inspired. I play my guitar when I'm inspired. I work out when I'm inspired. And when I'm not inspired... I stop. I get bored. My blog died because I wasn't consistent with my posts. My body has physically become worn out because I don't exercise regularly. There's one or two drafts saved on my blog account that I haven't finished. There are about ten songs I haven't finished learning on my guitar. I might be able to play a half-assed intro to some of them but that's about it. There might be only one or two songs I completely learned, but I've forgotten even those. It's because I haven't touched the poor instrument in months. Sometimes, I can even feel how sad my guitar is that I never play her.
I need inspiration to do certain things in my life. Otherwise, I'm content with what I do and how I live and that's not necessarily a good thing. If I'm content then how will I aspire to become better? That is why I find inspiration in my daily life. Engineering is such an interesting topic, I feel giddy sometimes when I think about working in the field. I know I'll do great with my engineering career because the subject itself inspires me to learn more about it. Seeing other people stronger than myself inspires me to work out (it might also be jealousy). Sometimes, just holding my guitar is enough for me to want to become a better musician. Having a constant stream of inspiration allows me to stay on top of my game.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I love the feeling of having inspiration. The excitement, the adrenaline, the focus. I feel like little Charlie and I have the Golden Ticket in my hands. Maybe it's because of my imagination-less childhood, but when I come up with something (or think I came up with something) that I can share with others, I just feel pumped up. My friends, my family, my girlfriend. They all push me to become better. Without them, I'd just be a boring guy playing video games all day.
"Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity." - Bo Bennett
