Writing for Inspiration - a Challenge ?

“We teach what we need to learn and write what we need to know.” ~ Gloria Steinem

It just isn't the right time. Who's going to read it anyway? Why spend the energy? I just don't feel inspired at the moment, ok? I'm tired. I have other things I need to do. It's just not flowing. So what? I am going to write anyway, no matter what. I will be a word warrior if need be and just start writing not caring what happens. Just to overcome the excuses, the reasons, and the feelings why I should not write in this or that moment. Then as I start to write it just starts moving the energy. It may "take on a life of its own". I write when I was not planning to. I also don't write when I planned to. At any time of day or night.  I wrote more in this paragraph after I had written five more below. I decided to add roses to this blog as a symbol of my love of writing. I recall the valuable lessons of Steven Pressfield in his book The War of Art about overcoming resistance. Sometimes there is just a stream of consciousness about writing : when, how, what, etc. Resistance can always be present as an invitation to overcome it. 

I have started novels in past years only to abandon the project and move on to something else. When I finished the book 333 Keywords to Change Your Life it was a combination of writing what I need to know and a commitment to discipline myself to write every day, even if it was one page for one keyword in the book. Since there are 333 keywords in the book the goal was easy to set. It took about a year to write it. About a  month after completing and publishing the book I started writing inspirational blogs and it's been about a year that I have written about one blog every two weeks. I usually have several that are in process or draft form, and work on them at different times. Then one seems to "stand out" and be ready to publish. I review it and have others look at it for their feedback. My main focus or underlying theme for my inspirational blogs is - can you guess? - inspiration. I have another blog titled Likes, Tweets, and SEO which is marketing oriented and has had over 100,000 views in the past six years or so that I have been writing it.

So let's revisit the question that is in the title of this blog.

Is writing for inspiration, either for yourself such as journaling, or for others, such as in Facebook sharing, or blogs, or books a challenge? The answer will vary of course between individuals, and within each person as challenges can appear any time that we want to write.

With my own writing, it varies as the challenge may take on different forms. Deciding on when to write, what to write about, what to say, letting things flow versus over thinking a bit, and letting go of the outcome are all challenges. The creative process sometimes takes on a "life of its own", right? We just can't control how Spirit wants to move through us, or when an inspiring idea comes up, or what words may stream though our mind next. This is the beauty of inspired writing for me, that inspiration seems to be the basis, and the foundation for whatever the topic is that comes up.

Sometimes just starting to write is the biggest challenge, and once you start, you have overcome that challenge, and words may start to flow. The challenge is to start even when you do not feel like starting. Like a subtle test, by starting you have passed the test, and are ready to receive whatever words start flowing into your mind and heart.
I received the idea of writing this blog about my inspirational writing a while back. It sort of simmered like a slow cooking soup, until I decided to start. I stopped after the next sentence, then started again another morning. So do I write for inspiration? Or from inspiration? To hopefully inspire others? Yet not be attached to the outcome? Whatever ways we spin it, for me writing is a joy, even with the challenges. It has enriched my life experience as I always wanted to write more than I did through the years. Now it seems to be flowing, and for that I have a ton of gratitude.

Let's explore some reasons or ideas why I think that writing for inspiration can be a rewarding process, and why it may seem to be a challenge in various ways.

Writing can be rewarding to see how words will come to you in ways you did not expect. It can be rewarding to overcome challenges or obstacles or writers block. It is a joy when you get positive feedback and when the writing enhances another person's perspectives, or opens up new ideas.

Writing is rewarding when you receive feedback that someone was really moved by your words, or the words that came to you, and which you wrote and created in sentences and paragraphs. Even without receiving feedback, you may not be attached to the outcome or impact of your words, yet they are put out there into the universe, and were created through you for a purpose, the full extent of which we may never know. One year after you have written something, someone may read it, and have an insight or new realization that changes their life. It is the mystery of life, and of writing, that we do not know all the subtle effects and things that go on behind the scenes, and for me that is in itself very inspiring.

Reading others words,whether in a non-fiction format or fictional story, can be an inspiration for my writing. I have favorite authors, and am open to discovering new writers, new stories, and new ways of how words can express the many diverse and multi- experiences of life. However taking time to read is a challenge for me. I enjoy it, yet do not spend as much time as I would like to. So at this moment I have three books that I am reading that interest me enough to stay with them. 

One of the books is from the son of a family friend, and is in a genre that I do not usually seek out for reading (young adult dark fantasy). I have tremendous respect for this author, Derek Murphy, his research, his living his dream of writing and traveling the world, living in castles where he sets up writers conferences, and sharing the process of how and why he writes. Although I have not read most of his books, the most recent really grabbed my attention with his own cover design. Then I read an excerpt, and rejoined Kindle Unlimited for $10,00 a month on Amazon to read it for free in the Kindle Unlimited program. The book, Orpheum - Gods of Music and Madness, has the following description on Amazon:

" Orpheum is a young adult dark fantasy romance based on Eastern European history, the myths and literature of Orpheus and Pythagoras' theory of the music of the spheres. Readers who loved This Savage Song and Strange the Dreamer will love this hypnotic mythological thriller."

I finished this book within days, and it was well written and full of surprises and supernatural mystery that starts developing after a more "normal" beginning of the story. A good read!

Another book that I am reading is The Yoga of Money by Edward Vilga.  It has a different approach, a yoga approach to personal finances and from what I have read so far I can see some very good content developing.

A third book that I am reading is This Thing Called You by Ernest Holmes. It is a classic in the New Thought movement and speaks from the concept of oneness with the Divine Spirit.

A fourth book that really grabbed my attention is Mindfulness - an Eight Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World. The scientific research on the effects of meditation in this book are inspiring and I have seen some of the benefits described after meditating twice a day for over a year. I am starting to include their ideas in my own meditation practice.

Then there is Isabel Allende. I have started to read the free samples from her novels and am very impressed with her writing. Yet I do not care to pay $11.99 for a Kindle edition! 

For me, reading can definitely be an inspiration for writing, or getting inspired ideas to write about. 

Writing for inspiration can be a challenge, as well as writing from inspiration. When we turn it over to the creative Spirit within, maybe the Muse, maybe our heart and intuition, or all of the above and more, then we can truly celebrate how words can have an inspirational effect on us, whether we are writing or reading.

When it starts to flow it is not a challenge. The challenge seems to come from our own resistance to letting it flow, or doubts about what words will come, or whether they will be the rights ones, and many more reasons. An interesting exercise is to write about all the reasons that are coming up and that are "holding you back" from writing. Would writing about them cause them to dissipate, even disappear, giving the confidence that maybe your ability to start a creative flow is more powerful than your resistance? Overcoming the challenge of resistance is like a small battle won in the greater "War of Art" so well described in Pressfield's book.

The process of writing can be a reflection of life; your insights and experiences, wisdom and breakthroughs, as well as your dark moments, challenges, fears, and loves. For me , inspiration is the keyword that motivates me to write, enhances my life, and allows me to give my gifts of writing to the world. I welcome both the challenges as well as the rewards of writing, and in gratitude and love, acknowledge the Divine Spirit that is my source of inspiration. 

================== from the book 333 Keywords to Change Your Life ====

"The invitation of the keyword “Writing” is to acknowledge the amazing legacy of scribes and writers in all cultures and traditions. It is also to appreciate the magic of the written word in poems, stories, legends, myths, and holy books, and enjoy what has been written. We are invited to write, even if it is a private journal with our private thoughts. Writing can be therapeutic, healing, and transformational. Writing or reading what has already been written is a journey in itself that has many paths, many discoveries, much joy, and vicarious adventures in living and learning." - David Lawrence Brown. 333 KEYWORDS : Affirmations to Change Your Life (Kindle Locations 8900-8907).