How inspiration and ideas work?

This article is heavily inspired by Big Magic.

I am currently reading the book Big Magic and it’s slowly dawning on me how many misconceptions people have about creativity and how ideas work. In this post, I will share with you the things I’ve learned from Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic regarding ideas and inspiration.

Where does ideas come from?

In the book Big Magic Elizabeth Gilbert propose that ideas comes from air just like oxygen or as she calls it “genius”. But I respectfully disagree, I believe that ideas come from our life experience. I believe that our ideas are the combination, the mix and match of our own life experience. Ideas are the combinations of the things you’ve touched, smell, see or tasted. So the more you see life, the more ideas you’ll have.

How to catch an idea?

Although I do not agree with Elizabeth’s theory about where ideas come from, I do agree with her on how we can get an idea. To get an idea we must first be open to receive it. That means that you can’t be caught up in a certain emotion or focused on an on-going drama. No, you have to be fully free, be open to new things. That’s why I think meditation really helps, meditation keeps your mind free.

Inspiration

The Lighting Strikes the HEART

Aha!!!

That is what it feels like when inspiration hits you. Suddenly your life experience mashes up, combining itself to form an idea that gives you the goosebumps. You’re now excited and inspired to do something with that idea, that brings out a fork in the road…

Turning it Down

No

Most of the time, when inspiration hits us we say “No” to it, either because we don’t have the courage to say “yes” to it or we don’t think we’re the right person to full-fill it. Saying “no’’ to inspiration is perfectly reasonable, but make that decision very cautiously because they’re no take-backs, once you say “no”, the idea slips back into your subconscious and you have no idea of knowing if it’ll ever come back. Even if you write it down for later, that inspired feeling will be gone.

Yes! I will marry YOU!

Yes, Yes, Yes I will Marry You

Saying “yes” to an idea, saying “yes” to inspiration is like getting married, you are promising that you will love and nurture the other person (idea) for the rest of your life. When you “yes” to an idea, you are getting into a contract both metaphorically and physically, you are promising the idea that you will see it through.

Poof!

“Poof!” is what happens when you break that promise. If you neglect the idea after you’ve said “yes” to it, your idea will go away, it will not wait for you. So when you say “yes”, make sure you have what it takes to see it through.

But in the end you need to understand that ideas and creativity is not given to a selected group of people, it’s available to everyone us, have the courage to say “yes” to it.

“The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.”— Elizabeth Gilbert