UA&P I AM S.T.R.O.N.G. : Inspiration- Finding it, using it and loving it.

By Shirin Eugenio

Inspiration is like a smile in the mind. A tug in the heart. A tiny miracle that lasts a moment, but it changes you forever. When inspiration happens to you, suddenly you can write better, or the things to do are just clearer, or the desire is a tad stronger.

It’s surprising that we usually attribute the need for inspiration only when in the throes of producing something artistic (like a mural or a song), something substantial (like a story or a reaction paper), or something revolutionary (like designing the iPod to end all iPod fantasies). For anything else ordinary, we feel inspiration is unnecessary because all we need is to know how to do it, have the time, and just be done with it. Do you really need inspiration to clean that closet you can hardly close? Can inspiration help you when you’ve screwed up your Calculus exam? Why find inspiration if everything comes with a manual these days? It’s quite easy to disregard the need to be inspired, simply because either we reserve inspiration for the times we think it is desperately needed, or we think looking for it is as cheesy and corny as a childhood crush.

No wonder most of us approach some of life’s mundane activities with such apathy. We have defined inspiration so narrowly as a push button. Time for a more liberal look at inspiration.

I fell in love with the origins of this word. Inspirare, a Latin word that means to inflame, to breathe into. Generally, it means to influence or animate with an idea or purpose. To inspire is to breathe life into something – like a stuck mind, a lost soul, a tired team, or a humdrum life. An inspiration is meant to awaken you. To be an inspiration to somebody means you move them to do something, or everything that they feel they couldn’t. If this is how inspiration really is – then, all the more we need it everyday, in huge doses! You need it in art class, as much as you need it when your mom asks you to clean your bathroom for the nth time.

Now we know what it is. But, why do we really need it? I realized that doing the right things like being a responsible daughter/son, studying for an exam, apologizing for a mistake – they are difficult to do because so many things get in the way (like ego, television and more ego). But if something inspires you to be better everyday, then doing the right things are all that matter to you. The right things might not be easy-breezy for you, but you are inspired to do them all the time.

Upholding the values we believe in like integrity, honesty, excellence, and respect can be challenged everyday. The opportunities to sell yourself out come in irresistible packages: cut and paste somebody else’s work on the internet so you can sleep now; tell your parents you’re studying in a friend’s house so you can go to a drinking binge secretly; add an extra P500.00 to the cost of your books so you can keep it and avoid asking your parents for more allowance. To continue believing in values, one must be inspired by something greater than oneself. It could be anything – your father’s magnanimity, the concept of heaven, or the maybe the whole pay-it-forward ideal – we all need to be inspired by something that convinces to never sell our souls.

Lastly, we need to find inspiration to discover who we really are. If we leave it to chance, we might end up conforming to what’s easy, current, or even wrong. Each time we encounter an inspiring life-story, or a creative idea, I believe part of the elation comes from the pleasant discovery of what is good for us. Soon enough, after unfolding a piece of ourselves little by little, we find out the things we love or hate; what we can give up and what we can’t; what makes us happy and what doesn’t. The right inspiration could be your own key to self-discovery.

So how does one find inspiration?

Watch out for the continuation...