what is inspiration?

What is inspiration? (And why this post topic?)

I was sitting with someone recently who was talking about feeling inspired by reading about successful, creative people. This led to a discussion about what he found inspirational, but also how important it is for all of us to have role models, or at least people and achievements we can look ‘up’ to. 

Before proceeding further, however, I thought it might be useful to define this term: inspiration. Etymologically-speaking, the word is derived from the latin verb inspirare, meaning ‘to breathe or blow into’, with the implication that the source is somehow outside or above us. Regardless of one’s spiritual or atheistic views, it suggests that when we are feeling inspired, there is something that comes (in)to us, exciting and energizing us with a fresh or different perspective, idea or approach.  

The relevance of this root meaning is that we all need and benefit from a little inspiration from time to time. Our own inherently limited ways of thinking, feeling and perceiving can become stale, repetitive and, well, un-inspiring. It’s like talking to ourselves in an echo-chamber – we only hear our own words and thoughts. We need other sources of ideas to help us move forward in a creative and healthy manner. Does that suggest that we cannot help ourselves, or that only other people have ‘good/better’ ideas? Certainly not, but to limit ourselves to what we think, or to those who think just like us essentially keeps us in the echo chamber. 

Of the many and serious challenges facing humanity at this moment in history, certainly one of the most problematic - if not the most- is the increasing difficulty we seem to be having with listening to and talking with one another. Having a reasonable, rational, thoughtful and in-depth dialogue has somehow become the new mission-impossible. While many social commentators have pointed this out, as a clinician I can certainly confirm just how prevalent a problem this has become. And yet I hear regularly - this past week alone at least five times – that we need to connect, talk, listen and be listened-to, and yet this fundamental need remains elusive. 

So what does this have to do with inspiration? Well, just as we can’t know it all, our own perspectives, knowledge and understanding are inevitably and obviously limited. As such, we need outside input and therefore we actually need to get better at being open to what others can offer. Our well-being as individuals, as a species - if not the biosphere as a whole- depend on it. So, how about we start with listening to the world around us? Maybe we can learn something, and in return, so too will others.