Guest Post: Meg

I am overjoyed by the requests I got to do guest posts. Each and every single lady that wanted to has a blog that truly inspires me, and who I would want to be best friends with in real life. Like seriously though, they are AMAZING you guys!

We will start with the wonderful Meg from shake, rattle and ramble. Pretty please make sure you check out her blog, because she is absolutely wonderful!!

I have asked each guest poster (is that a word?) to share five random things about themselves, and then what inspires them. I feel think with the transition of seasons everyone gets in a bit of a rut inspiration wise. I am confident these lovely ladies can give you a new perspective on things, so that is why I asked them to share what inspires them. Enjoy!

Five random facts: 1) I do not wear high heels.  2) I play the cello.  3) There is something oddly exciting to me about being "old" one day; I admire the elderly.  4) I am married to a wonderful bearded man who I've known since high school.  5) I wish I had an on/off switch for my thoughts.

On Inspiration:

My personal definition for inspiration is motivation from an outside or third-party influence to express something sincere.  Sincerity is my central objective in anything I do, and I feel very strongly that art, any kind of art, is sincere expression.  If it is not honest, if it is not in earnest, it is not art. 

Now that you know what I consider inspiration to be, I will tell you what specific things inspire me, specifically.  But first, I'm going to do both of us a favor and skip over the obvious, bohemian answers.  What I mean by that are things such as truth, beauty, love, nature, etc, etc.  I do this because everyone in existence with a heart thunking inside of their chest is inspired by these things at some point. Including them in this would be as pointless as writing, "I am human and I breathe air" in my About Me section.  For this reason, I do not feel the need to write about these in particular.

What I have been and continue to be inspired by most are my relationships with others.  The reason, I think, that I am so easily inspired by these is the great potential they have to provide such a wide range of emotion.  Relationships can be the best or the worst things in our lives.  They can cause us great joy or heaping amounts of misery.  They have the power to get under our skin, to take root in our hearts and grow.  It doesn't matter what kind of relationship.  Whether it is romantic, platonic, professional or personal, this whole "getting to know other people" thing is not for the weak-willed. Go through a list of your favorite songs in your mind.  How many of them were written about a relationship?  My guess is, probably the majority.  It seems to me that nothing gets us people smiling, frowning, laughing, crying, jumping for joy or sinking in agony more than human drama.  And, in turn, nothing is more likely to inspire us, to motivate us to create something sincere.

Because my main form of expression is writing, another source of inspiration for me is some good literature.  I love books.   I love the way that reading certain authors causes me to think the way their book reads.  Do you know what I mean?  Suddenly that author's style sinks into my mind, and I hear my thoughts in their voice all day long.  It's oddly enjoyable.  It sort of feels like taking a vacation from my own brain.

 

I recently read a book by Daniel Handler, and it completely changed the way I had been approaching what I wrote.  He is so fearless.  I had a refreshed perspective, and no longer felt hesitant about running with the ideas that came into my mind. 

That's the thing about inspiration.  It can't be accompanied by fear or hesitation.  These are the spoilers of sincere expression.  Inspiration also doesn't always (or, in my case, ever) come all at once.  You've got to keep that faucet of creativity on at all times.  Don't reject the ideas that your brain gives you, appreciate them!  Let your brain know it's doing what you want it to.  Run with it. 
 

"I feel such a creative force in me: I am convinced that there will be a time when, let us say, I will make something good every day, on a regular basis...I am doing my very best to make every effort because I am longing so much to make beautiful things.  But beautiful things mean painstaking work, disappointment, and perseverance." -Van Gogh