When your muse skips town

Inspiration is quite the rush. The mind is set alight with seemingly limitless possibilities and, in that moment, you want to experience them all. For a creator, inspiration is the high that we pursue. But eventually our creative significant other packs up their stuff and quietly disappears into the night leaving us absent and lonely.

Sometimes we shack up with motivation soon after and it helps soothe the sting of inspiration’s leaving and in some cases, it stays with us for a while longer than we expected. But eventually, motivation becomes more of a friend and we’re beginning to wonder if there’s a future for us. Every now and then we catch a glimpse of inspiration. It looks lovely of course and we begin to pine after them but life is moving too fast and in a blink of an eye it’s gone again.

We mope. We cry. We lovingly stroke pictures of inspiration and us on our good days whilst “All Out of Love” serenades our aching heart. That is where we stay for a time, flinging ourselves dramatically onto a French settee waiting for inspiration to find you and swipe right on Tinder. You’re staring at your phone for hours, days, weeks or, god forbid, months! Nothing. Life is dull. Life is grey. Life is a series of pouring rains.

Then you feel it. That spark! Your skin goosebumps as you turn around and there it is. Inspiration standing in the doorway, tears down its cheeks as it stretches its arms out to you. You're in its arms, crying, promising you’ll never let it go. It smiles sweetly at you, but you both know it cannot stay for long.

Though, sometimes, after motivation and inspiration have left, you move in with a steady couple. Determination is quiet but refuses to move. It’s a bulwark despite everything crashing down around it and you stand in awe of how well it plods along. It’s slightly more chipper companion, perseverance, pats you on the back saying, “These things generally work out for the best. We just keep going,”. That seems to be their mantra. Although it is tiring how relentless they are, they get things done.

They make sure you get enough sleep and that you have someone to talk to when you’re feeling stressed. They urge you to do unpleasant things straight away so that they are no longer on your mind. They even encourage you to do something else when you’re really stuck like go walking with them, or indulge in a different hobby. And when you sit down to do something creative when you’re having a bad day they gently but firmly spur you to do just 10 minutes!

At times, inspiration tuns up and you all have a good time. But the couple keep you grounded when inspiration, once again, has to leave. Soon, you find yourself taking after determination and perseverance to the extent that a younger creator looks to you and asks what your secret is. You smile back and you introduce them to your old friends.

How do you find your spark of inspiration and what do you do when it finally leaves? Let us know in the comments below! And join us on Sunday evening for our Quackchat at 5:30PM(EST). We’ll be following up on this topic so be sure to tune in and give other creators your tips on how to shack up with determination and perseverance!

Till next time lovelies!