Once upon a time, life was full of inspiration.
This inspiration was a force of nature, both unpredictable and separate from us. Inspiration was accepted as something that came to you as mysteriously as it vanished.
Mere mortals were celebrated for having been visited by this amazing creative force so much and for so long that along the way mankind’s trusty egos convinced us to take credit for that inspiration, to take ownership of it.
Why not? It was Rodin’s hands that sculpted his masterpieces and Michelangelo’s to paint the Cistine Chapel. Why not indeed?
I recently read Elizabeth Gilbert’s book, Big Magic and it has left me thinking about creativity and writing and work and responsibility. 
I love that she made a deal with herself when she was just a teenager to write every day of her life but not to put the pressure of providing an income on her writing; that the writing was to be something that fulfilled her soul and not to provide a steady pay cheque.
Taking this oath allowed her writing to be honest and free of obligation. When we include the purpose of writing for more followers, more subscribers, more Likes or a higher conversion rate, we can lose the ability to connect at all.
Establish what you care about, what the people you work with care about and what the people you want to work with care about and write about that in your work. Be specific. Be courageous. Be vulnerable.
Be a curious observer.
Realize that your are not responsible for inspiration. That to be a success you must observe your surroundings and proceed with curiosity and keep going each and every day.
Some days this curiosity will be in baby steps and other days it will provide tremendous leaps. Both move you forward, which is the direction you want go.
One theme that she wrote about that has stayed with me is the deeply entrenched cultural belief that if we suffer enough we are doing a good job; that we are worthy.
Who the f*^k decided that was a good idea? Plenty of people suffer each and every day all over the world and their suffering only leads to…..more suffering.
There will always be many days you won’t feel the inspiration; keep moving forward anyway. It is not your fault that inspiration didn’t show up. One day you will find that your curiosity has been dancing with inspiration behind closed doors and they are, at long last, ready to come out of the closet. In the end, inspiration was waiting for you to be ready!
I think it is so brilliant to acknowledge that when we sit inspiration down for a serious talking to, and proceed to tell it to work like a rented mule for our personal prosperity, it is likely to just go take a really long siesta in a land far, far away.
If you are ready for a collaborative process to realize your BIGGEST DREAMS,
contact me for a FREE consultation.
Until next time, be fabulously YOU!!
your Coach, Lisa van Reeuwyk
