One of the best features of Twitter is the opportunity to connect with other people around a specific topic via online chats using a hashtag to “sort” the conversation stream apart from the rest of the flow of general tweets. These interactions expand my horizons, introduce me to other minds and concepts and also give me an opportunity to refine my thoughts about any given topic.
Today’s post is about blogging, but more specifically, what inspires us to write.
There are as many ways to be inspired as there are ways to write. Some people write each day, training The Muse to show up whether s/he wants to or not (e.g. the method taught in the book, The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron). Others feel as though they are unable to write unless they have anything of interest to say and are moved to commit bytes to the ether.
To answer the question as it relates to me? I draw inspiration from other bloggers, quotes, songs, my children, interactions with people in my daily life and seemingly random coincidence. But that’s not really what today’s blogpost is about, actually.
After talking about it with other writers via Twitter chats, I started to become more aware of being inspired and looking for inspiration in everything. Being a dispassionate observer of my life has helped me to learn more about how I interact with others.
Which leads me to the overarching concept of this blog.
Everything we do is co-creation, and the quality or nature of what we create is predicated on the environments we choose. Our creations are constructed with the raw materials we have at hand (the friends we keep, the job we have, where we live etc). Having an awareness of one’s actions, how those interactions affect others and being mindful of our choices leads to a different way of Being by default. One cannot simultaneously be aware and remain unaffected by the consequences of one’s actions. It’s impossible.
“You may have great skill with the instrument you choose for your livelihood, but it us useless if you cannot command the mind which uses that instrument.” — Paulo Coelho
Our success as a writer really does come down to mind over matter. Even more than this, mind creates matter—thinking makes things so. We each have the capacity of conquering our own minds. We decide what is important to us. We decide what inspires us and we decide what drives us. Our choices and actions determine how those decisions are made manifest.
One of my best friends was an 80-something jazz pianist, now deceased. About 20 years ago, over coffee, Bob shared with me a nugget of wisdom he had collected over his decades of living. “Molly,” he told me, “everything is cumulative.”
Our environments are built moment by moment, day by day, choice by choice. What inspires you? What is your vision? What are you willing to decide in order to make it happen?
It is ultimately up to you.
P.S. Every Sunday, I publish a free weekly newsletter called the 3 Minute Reset, which includes life lessons, life hacks and treats. To subscribe, click here.
