How can I become inspired?

In my last blog post I urged you to pay attention to your inspiration. When it comes it is a gift, I wrote, so don’t leave it on the table.

In response to that posting I heard the question, “But I don’t get inspired, at least not nearly enough … hardly ever. Is there something I can do to increase my inspiration?”

What’s funny is that I just happened to be reading an e-book that relates somewhat to this very question. The book is The Inspired Eye: Notes on Creativity for Photographers, by David duChemin. It’s a quick read, like all of his books (I have several) and is available for download at his website: http://www.craftandvision.com/

Mr. duChemin writes photography books and this book focuses on creativity and inspiration in photography. But what he says about inspiration is applicable to inspiration in all aspects of our lives. After reading his book, and spending some time thinking about inspiration, I came up with a couple of strategies you can use to increase your inspiration. You can make inspiration happen. In that way it’s sort of like motivation. You are in control. The way you make inspiration happen is to lay the ground work for it to appear. And then all you have to do is be open to it.

The first strategy is based on the truism that creativity springs from work, and not the other way. duChemin says if you want to be inspired photographically, you’ve got to be doing photography; the work brings forth the inspiration. In photography that means taking pictures, lots of pictures. It also means looking at the photos afterwards and learning from your work. It means being critical, not just downloading your photos into your computer and putting your camera away. As for me, I like writing speeches. I do it all the time. The more I do it, the more inspired I get.

The second strategy is to increase your knowledge of your topic. In photography that means first of all you need to know your equipment. With digital this is getting harder all the time. I have three books just on the topic of how my camera, a low end Nikon digital SLR (D40), works. (Things were a lot easier back in the 70’s when I used a Rolleiflex that didn’t even have a built in light meter.) Increasing your knowledge in photography also means, for example, knowing the rules of composition, and studying the masters. What ever your topic is, there is learning you can do. Look into your social environment and see what sources of knowledge there are and then follow up.

The third strategy is to get involved in your subject. The more you are involved with a subject, the bigger a part of your life it is, the more likely you are to get inspired in that subject. If you really want to be inspired, you need to totally immerse yourself in the subject. As you can imagine, I spend lots of time thinking about motivation, and I find that the more I think about it, and write about it, and read about it, and study it, the more frequently I am inspired. Make your physical environment reflect this immersion. In my physical environment I surround myself with representations of me as a speaker. I have all my Toastmaster trophies and ribbons on a shelf above my desk. I have a photo of me in my blue suit at a podium. You can also use your social environment to increase your immersion. If your subject is photography, join a photography club and surround yourself with like minded people. I do that with speaking. I belong to not one, but two Toastmasters clubs.

By using these simple strategies you can make inspiration occur. And when it does, make sure you grab hold of it and don’t let it go. Inspiration will motivate you like few things will. It’s a real gift.