Inspiration isn’t anywhere except inside yourself. It’s a way of interacting with the world. It’s a way of being open to anything and to being sympathetic with it. It’s a way of love and a an absolutely emptiness of criticism.
Creativity is what happens when you get out of your own way. Most of us have a life’s weight of stop signs built into our brains. We stop ourselves before we even get started. We have an idea and they we think “what would Sanderson think? Or what would Olivia think? Or what would anyone think?” Then you kill the idea because Sanderson and Olivia and anyone else, in your imagination, wouldn’t like it.
After a while of doing this, you never even bother to have ideas in the first place. You have all these preconceptions already. You want “positive” creativity. You want “aha’ moments. You think creativity can be found somewhere out there, on some avenue or website or something.
Creativity is not out there. It’s inside. It’s you letting go of your preconceptions and prejudices that keep you channeled in acceptable ways. It’s you doing what you really want to do instead of trying to be safe. It’s you daring to be different. Not just to be different, but because whatever you do is the appropriate thing for you to do.
If you get out of your own way, creativity is easy. It is wonderful. It is like being a child. Childlike. Your sense of wonder makes you see things how they could be anything at all. In your mind, you picture a million different options, or no options, just the way it goes inside you. You see it, and you write it down or paint it or dance it or express it in whatever medium you want to.
The other thing about creativity is that it doesn’t require any effort at all. It’s always there, but usually we stop it. Once you get out of the way, it happens without thought. It’s like watching a movie. You just sit there and watch the film roll. Then you record what you see in whatever medium you want. It’s so easy you can’t believe it. Absolutely no work is required to be creative.
Of course, recording it is another thing altogether.