Inspiration Part 3 - Know Yourself

Know Thyself. Words wise enough to be engraved into the entrance of a Greek temple no less. A perfect metaphor, as knowing ourselves is the gateway to our spirituality. Through becoming aware of who we are, how we behave, what our motivations are, what our lessons have been, what trials we are working though, we can gain an emotional intelligence that can open us up to greater things. When we know how we tick, we can better control our reactions, and move in the flow of our greatest potential. We know how we best succeed, how we must overcome failure, and the skills we are working on right now. In addition to this, there are also the threads of stories which have come together to encapsulate who we are in this moment. Those who came before us in various respects are the lineage of our identity in a very special way, and understanding this can create a further opening to our inspiration.

Much has been written about emotional intelligence, though for the most part, we learn about it through trial and error, taking note and working on making positive changes. This side of knowing ourselves is of course, very important, but in this post I am going to talk about the other aspects of our identities - the ancestors of our personal lineage.

There are three main "ancestors" that I like to recognise, and would encourage you to explore to better know yourself more fully. The first is the ancestors of our bodies, our bloodline. These are the people who have given us our physical form, and no matter the quality of our relationship with our familial heritage, their line has given us certain traits and abilities that we will naturally take on. They can be positive or negative traits, but understanding them can give us a better picture of ourselves.

These traits might be phsyical - from fitness, to fertility, to a tendency towards particular illnesses, or a love of certain types of weather or activities. They might be mental - from emotional disposition, to a talent for certain kinds of jobs. In addition to these kinds of traits, there is also a rich cultural heritage that we are a part of because of our belonging to a certain group or groups of people. You might look back into your family tree to find you have relatives in an area of the world you have always found exotic and wanted to visit. Exploring these avenues in our identity can be a thrilling adventure and incredibly inspiring.

As an example, I learnt that my great grandfather was a missionary in China during the Boxer Rebellion and was rescued from harm by the people in the village. My grandfather was born there and so were his siblings. It has given me a greater insight into learning about China and one day I would love to visit the are that they were living in. What will you find out about your family?

This can sometimes be a challenge for some people. Paritcularly if they are adopted. One option in this case is to have your DNA sent away to be tested. One place is http://www.dnaancestryproject.com/. You swab your cheek and send it off to find out which area of the world your ancestors came from. It can be fascinating to find out and you will at the very least be more aware of a culture and its stories and heritage, art and history that you can be a part of, and be inspired by.

The second type of ancestor is our teachers and guides. The people who have come before us with ideas and knowledge that has shaped the way we see and experience the world. This could be from so many sources, but to understand the complexity of your own choices, is to understand a very deep and personal part of your way of being in the world. We are given so many ideas all day every day. It is important to recognise how we have come to our own way of being, and to honour that.

You might like to brainstorm it a bit. Some will be easy to identify - close friends and family and their advice, spiritual traditions you like, theories about the world you believe, movies that have influenced you, books and music lyrics that gave you insight. Some are more elusive - like a holiday when you had a realisation, a meditation that was meaningful, an artwork that changed your mind about something, a relationship in which you learned an important lesson. Our teachers come to us in many forms. Maybe you would like to write some of yours down in your journal?

The third type of ancestor is of the land. The places we live and visit have such incredible histories. Each and every place has a story and an energy, whether it's human, biological, geological or even cosmological. It is amazing to look into the past to see how many things have come together to create the very moment you are experiencing right now in time and space.

Some things to consider when thinking about this could include: what is the history of this area? Who has lived here? How did it come to be a park/housing estate/city etc? What was it before? How did people live here? What was important to them? Were there any wars or battles fought here? Any celebrations or commemorations in this place? Maybe you can find old photos or read about the lives of indigenous people in your area. If you live in a place that has an indigenous history, you could look that up too. Maybe visit sacred sites or other places of beauty and honour their part in the story of where you are.

Another thing to do is to understand what kinds of animals, plants, rock formations and weather patterns tell the story of the place you are in. Understanding nature in a place is an incredible way of becoming inspired by it. Learning about a  flower and when it blooms, or finding out that you can eat the berries of a tree that grows in your street, or knowing where to find beautiful stones, or noticing what time of year the wind changes direction or temperature can make you feel an amazing sense of belonging, which is really a part of who you are. You LIVE in this place. It is a part of you as much as you are a part of it. Become it and be inspired WITH it.

So now you have a bit of homework! I hope the last post encouraged you to start a diary of some kind - hopefully two - and now you have something to start writing about in it. Take some time to think about what your inspirations are, have been, or could be. Understanding who you are is the gateway to unfolding your greatest creative potential. Know Thyself -wise words indeed.

Inspiration - Part 2: 10 way to get inspired today

Let me tell you a story. It’s the story of the beginning of my creative career. I’ve had a few stumbles and false starts on my creative journey and this was a big one. It has taken me a long time to work out how to bring inspiration into what I do and to shape my business the way I have. There was a lot of trial and error in working out how to do it.

Since as far back as I remember, when people asked me “so, what do you want to be when you grow up?” I always said I wanted to be a designer. It was my dream, and by the age of 20, I was working as head fashion designer at a small company in Sydney. Unfortunately it didn't quite go as I had planned. I was sitting, mostly by myself, at a computer desk nine to five, Monday to Friday, in a sterile air conditioned office, with an hour and a half commute each way from work and a half hour lunch break in a bleak industrial area. I was made to pour out designs like a running tap. I gave it everything I had, but over time found it increasingly difficult to come up with new ideas, or sometimes to come up with anything at all. It was like my creativity had run dry. I dreamed of travelling to foreign countries, spending time in nature, and going swimming at the beach. These feelings seemed at such odds with the environment I had to work. I felt my inspiration dwindling more and more.

I didn’t realise it at the time, but what was missing in my life was TIME to become inspired. We don’t become inspired by sitting at a desk nine to five, Monday to Friday, nor do we become inspired by DREAMING of being in other places or doing other things. We don’t get inspired by just waiting for it to come. It comes to us from spending time around that which we find inspiring – what gives us spirit and helps us to breathe in that breath of life. For many of us, it is the simplest thing of all to see the breath of life in the natural world.

The importance of taking time out to get creatively inspired shouldn't be overlooked. Of course, this is difficult to do in the corporate environment, as I found out as a designer, and much more accessible if you work for yourself, as I do now. However, when we at least understand how this principle works, we can begin to make changes that can help boost our ability to find that needed inspiration. 

I wasn’t aware of what I needed at the time. I burnt out in that job after two years and had to quit, thinking I wasn’t cut out for design. I was shattered and it took me years to pick up a pen and paper to draw again without feeling a bit nauseous. I worked for nearly a decade in other kinds of work thinking I couldn’t do it anymore.

Now I’m a designer again. But this time I’m doing it right. I never feel burnt out. I might recognise that I am in need of inspiration, but now I know where to find it. There are so many things we can do to bring inspiration into our lives. Here are some you can try today:

1. SPEND TIME IN NATURE. Spend a day in the bush, go on a hike, go to the beach, take a picnic to the park. Take your lunch breaks in the park. Run outdoors. Go see the sunrise and/or sunset. Take up gardening. Water the plants. Just BE in nature. As much as you can. 

2. GET OUT AND GET INSPIRED. At times where you have the option to get out, get out! Take that work lunch outdoors. Do a meeting at a café. Just get outside and away from the same same environment you are always in. Sometimes a change of scenery can make a world of difference.

3. BRING INSPIRATION IN. Make your creative space/workplace inspiring and beautiful. Keep it organised and tidy and fill it with photographs and quotes and other things you enjoy. Change it seasonally. This is not time wasting. It is important to your creativity. Keep a plant on your desk too if you can – cacti are perfect as they can handle the weekend and only need watering about once a week. Bring nature and beauty in, particularly if you can’t get out in it in your workday.

5. KEEP A PERSONAL JOURNAL. There is nothing better than a journal to order your thoughts and help you work out where you’re at. Let all your emotions out. Make sure it’s a private journal so you can be as crazy and inappropriate as you like!  It’s healthy to get it out. It’s releasing and helps to make way for the new, rather than stagnating on old ideas.

6. KEEP A CREATIVE JOURNAL TOO! This one is different. It’s where you write down all those creative ideas you have. Things to do, new directions to explore. If you design, sketch in it; if you cook, write down recipes; if you’re in business, write down strategies and plans. It’s a great way to collate ideas, whether you use them now, or refer to them at times when you have less ideas.

7. BE INSPIRED BY THE INSPIRED. Watch inspiring movies, read books that give you ideas, go to amazing places, talk to interesting people. Also look at the work of others in your field who you admire and write in your creative journal about why you admire them.

8. TAKE SMALL RISKS: Yes. Try it. Particularly when you’re in a creative rut. Take that small step sideways in what you do. It could be the best thing you’ve ever done. It’s the only way to break out of stagnancy and move to the next level. This is a skill in itself.

9. LEARN NEW SKILLS. Learning is a wonderful way to renew our inspiration. What is it you want to do next? What is your greatest excitement in life? Follow that and see where it leads you.

10. Did I mention SPEND TIME IN NATURE? I did. Oh good. That one is important ;-)

Inspiration: part 1

What is it?

What is it to “be inspired”?

We all want it, but how can we go about getting it?

Sometimes it seems like inspiration just comes to people by chance, as though it picks us out at random to be inspired, with some of us missing out. When it feels like we've missed out we can feel stuck and useless. It can be depressing and cause anxiety and self-doubt. We wonder how others manage to find their niche; their CALLING in life and seem truly energised and inspired in what they do. We too want that for ourselves, right?

In truth, inspiration can be found by ANY one of us. It doesn't pick us, we pick IT. Anyone can be inspired and we can all learn how to find more inspiration in our lives. It can bring us greater CREATIVITY, ideas and clarity. It can improve our HAPPINESS, our health, our careers and our fulfillment in life. It really can.

Becoming inspired is a deeply SPIRITUAL practice.

The word “inspire” means for “spirit” or “breath,” as in the breath of life, to be “in” us. We have spirit within when we are inspired. We have connected with or recognised spirit and brought that into our being. It is through becoming aware of the spirit in ourselves and in all things around us that we become inspired.

One way that we can gain more inspiration is to simply spend more time in NATURE. Have you ever wondered why you seem to come up with amazing ideas when you spend some time in nature? Maybe going for a walk helps you to think, or that sit in the park at lunchtime gives you that breakthrough idea? It is so easy when we are in a natural place of beauty like a FOREST, the beach, or on a mountain, or any other natural place. Even a park can help us feel it.

In these natural places we easily see the breath of life – the spirit in all things. Becoming aware of life itself and its incredible MYSTERY, we become inspired, and that can clarify our thoughts, give us new and exciting ideas or give us insight and knowledge. It is a wonderful experience.

Over the next few weeks I am going to be posting about how to increase your own inspiration through connecting with the spirit in yourself and in the natural world. Together we can learn to grow and find our real calling in life: our INSPIRATION.

Exercise:

How are you inspired in your life?

What is your creative outlet?

How do you enact your inspired creativity?

If you would like to know more about how to find greater inspiration in your life, begin by thinking about these questions and sharing your thoughts in a comment below.