Sharon Mignerey

I believe the muse is that aspect of our creative self most in touch with intuition, which you may call spirit or God or a lucky hunch.  Sometimes it urges us to follow the empirical evidence, and sometimes it comes as a whisper or a nudge that appears to defy all logic.

In addition to being a writer, I’m a lay minister–a Practitioner.  I like that word a lot.  Merriam Webster defines a practitioner as someone who is actively engaged in a discipline or profession.  Writer, teacher, spiritual counselor, occasional philosopher–I do my best to be a practitioner in each of these.  And so, Muse Sings is about all that–my life as a writer, teacher, spiritual seeker–but especially about nurturing the muse.

What Inspires You?

Last modified on 2011-05-19 16:37:14 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

There is no passion to be found playing small — in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.

Nelson Mandela

If you’re like I am, at some point, someone has said to you, “What would you be doing if you knew you could not fail?”  And, if you’re like me, you had a glimpse of something magical for yourself, like seeing that fairytale castle barely visible within the mist.  For a scant second I believe, really believe.  And then the reality of my everyday existence sets in.  And instead of being inspired by that possibility, I set about motivating myself to achieve today’s goals.

For the moment, put aside whether you believe that you cannot fail.  Who or what inspires you?  Really inspires you?  And what is that one thing that wells out of you from somewhere deep and ignites your enthusiasm?  I’m not speaking about rah-rah enthusiasm, but rather that sense that you can’t wait to get up and get to work because doing the thing isn’t work, no matter how difficult it is in the moment.

I don’t know about you, but I like being inspired way more than I like being motivated.
On the surface, these two look so similar that we might even think of them as synonymous.  Some authors, such as Lance Secretan (author of INSPIRE!) postulate that motivation is rooted in fear and that inspiration is rooted in love.  That makes sense to me.  When I’m inspired, I have a sense of well-being and I’m rooted in the present.  When I’m inspired, I have those peak moments where I’m in the groove, whether it’s writing or some other activity, and everything seems to happen with minimal effort.  When I’m motivated, I have a sense of anxious anticipation about what might happen if I fail at the task I’ve set out for myself.   When obstacles arise, I feel as though I have to push through and as though I must continue to drive myself hard to finish the task.  This all suggests to me that motivation may work in the short term toward achieving a goal, but that it may not be enough to sustain a long term endeavor.  Inspiration, that welling-from-within enthusiasm, is the source behind our muse, I think.

And, so, I’ve been on this quest to find those sources of inspiration for me … to find that white hot center of passion where I want to write because something about the project sings to me at a deep level and demands my attention … not because of some external force motivating me.  I suspect that at least some of you are on a similar quest.

Are you inspired or are you motivated?  And, if you’re not inspired, and you want to be, what inspires you?  Yeah, that again.

I think the answer can be found by a little sleuthing through our choices.

• Is your current project something that sings to you?  Or is it one you’re involved with because of some external force—it’s the next logical step in your career, or you’re contractually obligated, or it’s the newest hot thing?
• Do you have a sense of anticipation where you can’t wait to get to work?  Or, do you need to warm up first with email and a computer game or two or three and another email check before getting to work?
• When you get feedback, do you have those aha! moments where you want to hurry to implement the change?  Or, do you have that sinking feeling of “darn, more work!” and the feeling another obstacle is lurking just around the next bend?
• When others offer you well-meaning advice, do you have the sense their intention is to genuinely help you?  Or do you have the sense their intention comes from some smug superiority where if you knew what they know, you’d do or be better?

Out of all of these, does anything motivate you?  Inspire you?  When I asked myself recently, I didn’t have an answer.  I was working on a deadline that loomed too close, and I was feeling smothered by my work.  Then, a few weeks ago I received an email from a person who told me that she’d had a long convalesce after being injured in a workplace accident and how she’d rediscovered the joy of reading.  Of how my book had made a difference in her life.  The wonderful part is that she made the effort to tell me when she just as easily could have not.  I’d made a positive difference for someone.  Wow.  And you guessed it.  I was inspired, because I wanted to be able to provide someone else with that same experience.

This has led me to a belief that inspiration comes from a place of service and motivation comes from a place of self-interest.  Lately there have been a number of studies that suggest people who are of service to others are happier and more fulfilled in their lives.  Sometimes, within the solitary existence we writers have within the pursuit of our art, it’s easy to think we’re leading selfish lives for being so absorbed by what goes on in our own heads.  Even so, I remain inspired by the idea that someone else’s live could be changed for the better, even in a small way, but something I’ve written.  To provide readers with entertainment, escape, and sometimes, even, a little dose of their own inspiration—I that idea, and I’m inspired by it.

I hope you find your inspiration, as well.

Play Time
Write about a time when you learned that you had inspired someone else and how you felt about that.  Write about someone who inspires you.  Write about some thing that inspires you.  And then take all that inspiration to your current project whether it’s work-related, hobby-related, or some brand new endeavor for you.

And, may your muse sing.