Getting Inspired When You're Not

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly…”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Do you have days when you feel uninspired? I do, even though I usually have projects going that really inspire me. Still, there are days when none of my ongoing projects inspire me. I don’t feel the energy to take action on any of them. Those days I just feel tired, and a little cranky, even if I slept well the night before. The cranky comes from an inner assumption that I must be doing something wrong to feel like this, and I’d better fix it. Only I’ve discovered that I don’t need fixing, I need acceptance and a change in perspective.

The other day I wanted to create a post for the blog. I wasn’t feeling sparked about anything. I was feeling tired. So, with no inspiring thoughts to guide me I went back over past journal writings I keep for this purpose. I discovered a story I wrote and found it to be a good fit for the blog.

Before I knew it, I was immersed in rereading the story, adding a little description here and there, creating the post format on the website, finding the right quote and the right picture to go with it. I was in the flow.

It all came so gracefully and unexpectedly when I hadn’t been feeling the spark at all. I’d uncovered a little pocket of joy.

Later that day, though I knew I should be weeding and mulching out in the yard, I just didn’t feel like all that effort. Instead, I drifted into the kitchen and tried out a dessert recipe that I’d been hanging onto for a while. It turned out well. That buoyed me up and I decided to check on-line for other recipes to try. There, I stumbled upon a gluten-free bread baking book. Feeling a little spark, I downloaded it.

There’s a discovery here – little pockets of joy happen, even when we don’t otherwise feel inspired, if you follow your energy.

It’s easy to feel joyful when we’re feeling really inspired about something. That joy spills over into everything. The energy is flowing strongly and it feels great. Yet, even in times when the energy is not flowing strongly, the joy still happens. It’s just quieter, and we’re less apt to be conscious of it, though that is when we most need to be aware of joy happening.

I didn’t think I was inspired that day. I just thought I was tired. Instead, I found my inspiration in places I didn’t expect it, in old journal writings, in a recipe I had been holding onto and never tried, in a new cookbook. I found it and didn’t recognize it for what it was, because I thought I should be feeling inspired about working in the yard. 

Instead, I just did what I had the energy to do.

The discovery is that there is joy happening all the time. It may be quieter, less obvious on the down side, but it is there.

Instead of focusing attention on trying to fix ourselves during these times, we could focus attention on where the quiet enjoyment is.

Maybe it’s a new recipe, an inspiring movie, a book. Perhaps it’s sitting quietly and sipping a cup of tea. The thing is, it’s there. It may just look a little different than we expect.

It requires the self-acceptance not to beat ourselves up because we think we should be doing something else, even as our hearts are guiding us to the quieter inspirations. It requires a change in perspective to see the rainbow.

And the surprise is, it’s not about what we’re actually doing, not really.

It’s about following the changing flow of creative energy from within. It floods sometimes and it trickles other times, but it’s always there.

I thought it wasn’t there that day. I was wrong. I was looking for the flood. Instead I needed to listen for the trickle.

The inspiration is there, even on the days when it feels like it’s not. Your inner self will guide you if you give yourself permission to listen, and look for the rainbow.  

Photo by Harry Quan on Unsplash

Your Spiritual Toobox

How to listen for the trickle? When the creative energy is trickling it hides among the rocks of self-judgment and low energy. It’s like a tiny stream struggling through a drought. The question is how to bring the rain?

Pay attention to the trickle, however little it may be. Ask yourself, “What would feel really good to me right now?” Be willing to listen to the answer, even if it is not what you think you should be doing.

Once you’ve identified something that would feel good in this moment ask yourself, “What is it about that something that feels good to me?

For example, though I really ought to be out pulling weeds and mulching the garden, the idea of it just makes me feel tired. There’s no energy there for me. Instead, what feels good is sitting here in my bathrobe and exploring my inner world through journaling, drinking tea and listening for my quiet, inner voice.

At this moment, the creative energy within me is calling for unplugging from the outside world and plugging into my internal world. As I do this, I know I’m headed in the right direction because there’s energy there and it feels like a tiny pocket of quiet joy.

Try it, especially if you’re feeling uninspired. Look for the trickle. Tune into the creative energy inside of you and ask it how it wants to express through you in this moment.

Ask yourself, “What would feel good to me right now?” As you pay attention and take action in the direction of the trickle, you may experience an increase in energy and a tiny pocket of joy. That will guide you.

The more you pay attention to the trickle, the more the creative energy within you will expand, bringing the rain of inspiration and the rainbow.