Jim Murray

7 years ago · 3 min. reading time · 0 ·

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The Ins and Out and Ups and Downs Of Inspiration

The Ins and Out and Ups and Downs Of Inspiration

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: The Friday Files :
: You Never Know Where You'll End Up :The Friday Files is a fairly subjective exploration into whatever I’m thinking about at the time I decide to write this. Sometimes it makes a lot of sense, other times, not so much. But it’s out of my head and over to you, my fellow bees.
On Fridays I like to write about whatever I have been thinking about all week long. The little passenger in my brain that keep pulling the cord asking me to stop and let it out.
It might be a short story, which is something I am starting to experiment with. It might be a lyric, which is something I have been experimenting with for a long time. It might be a reflection, which seem to come more and more frequently these days. It might be an image I want to find with my camera.
Or it might be just an notion that I want to dimensionalize. And this is one of those days.

Inspiration Is The Ultimate Abstraction

We all walk around with thoughts cascading in a virtually endless stream in our heads. Some are related to the practical things we have to do. But the vast majority of them are simply memories and abstractions exploding like popcorn kernels in a microwave.
If you’re a writer, you pay attention to that popcorn, simply because you’re always looking for ideas. For the thoughts that will blow themselves up into something. And those thoughts, to me at least, are what I call inspiration.
A lot of times inspiration will come from virtually out of nowhere. Other times it can be triggered by something you see or hear. Or it can slowly rise up out of the your subconscious mind when you relax, close your eyes and calm the chaotic popping in your head.
For me, this time is right now. 11:09 on a Thursday night. It’s a beautiful evening. My wife has gone to bed, and I probably should too. But I had this thought and a curiosity to see how it manifests itself.

Everybody Has Inspiration

to provoke thought and revive the comatoseOne of the most beautiful things about the human mind is the clarity that exists there if you just teach yourself how to slow things down.
The best clarity comes when you have slowed everything down to a crawl and you are actually asleep and dreaming.
Did you ever notice how much sense everything makes when you are dreaming?
This has a lot to do with the fact that every human being who whose brain isn’t seriously affected by some sort of malady, is basically as intelligent and insightful as every other human being.
It really is a level playing field. Where it stratifies is in the ability that each individual develops within themselves to make the most of the inspiration they receive from their own thought processes.
In other words, what you know of as genius, is something that every healthy brain possesses the capability to develop.
The difference is the degree to which you will act upon your idea, or allow your inspiration to actualize itself.
Everything I have written up to now is a manifestation of the thought I had to write something about inspiration…What it means to me. How I use it to do what I do. How I express it in a logical, understandable and hopefully inspirational way.
It has taken me a long time to teach myself to capitalize on inspiration.
It wasn’t easy and I was at a bit of a disadvantage since I have a condition that is basically caused by misfiring synapses in my brain.
But I did the work. Because I have a passion for writing and expressing myself in words. And that’s really the difference between people who become writers and designers and architects and artists and musicians and those who don’t.
I do not believe that any talent people have is God given gift, because I believe that everybody has it in them to do anything they want and on a pretty high level.
But the ones who actually do are the ones who teach themselves how to seize the inspiration that comes to them then turn it into real things.
Different Strokes For Different Folks

Not everybody chooses to do that. Some just use it to come up with better ways to do pragmatic things. But everybody has the basic equipment. But like just about anything in life, your ability to recognize inspiration is directly proportional to your desire to do so.
I have been a writer for all of my adult life. And, except for the writing I do for people or companies which is generally about dimensionalizing a strategy or a tactical positioning, virtually everything else I do is based strictly on inspiration.
And you know what. The older you get the easier it becomes to see the good ideas and jump on them.

The Takeaway

You may or may not agree with my assessment of inspiration, and that’s OK.
But if you really want to experience what it’s like to capture some inspiration and develop it into something, all I’m saying is that I believe you have that ability to do that within you. I believe that everybody does.
All you have to is calm down enough to capture the inspiration then figure out how to go about the work you need to do in a way that works for you.
It’s not easy. But then nothing worth achieving in life ever is.

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If you have a marketing or communications challenge you would like to discuss, (no obligation) I mentor people in that area all time ... Here are three ways you can contact me.
Direct Line:
416 463-3475 • Email: onandup3@gmail.com •  Skype: jimbobmur61

If you want to read more of my stuff, you can do that here:
https://www.bebee.com/publisher/@jim-murray

For more info on me,
https://www.bebee.com/producer/@jim-murray/this-post-is-my-about-page

My free ebook,  Small Business Communications For The Real World, can be downloaded here:
https://onwordsandupwords.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/small-business-communications-for-the-real-world/

All content copyright Jim Murray 2016. All rights reserved.




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Comments

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #11

#10
David Grinberg, a wise man once said that cynicism is often the last refuge of an idealist. Oh wait, that was actually a wise guy, me. But who cares.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #10

#11
I'm thinking. I'm thinking. Phil Friedman

Jim Murray

7 years ago #9

#10
Thanks David. I do tend to go off my meds every now and then.

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #8

#2
Kevin Pashuk, both you and Gert Scholtz beat me to it. I was going to tell Jim Murray that I have noticed him slowing down quite a bit, and mellowing out, as well. He hasn't suggested a topic for He Said He Said that would get us in deep poop for more than a week now. Cheers!

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #7

Wow, Jim Murray, I've never come across someone so inspirational on one hand, and so cynical on the other. You are indeed one of a kind. Thanks for sharing more of your powerful prose, which is always a joy to read and ponder.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #6

#2
Thanks Kevin Pashuk we'll see you on the 4th. I'[ll be bringing Friedman and a few sets of flex cuffs

Jim Murray

7 years ago #5

#1
Thanks Gert. I don;t get a lot of comments on my posts but the ones I do get are solid gold.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #4

#3
It's mostly metabolic, Franci Eugenia Hoffman

Jim Murray

7 years ago #3

#4
Deb Criveau...I wrote a post a while ago about going the process of finding my own voice. It was very much as you described it in your comment, which was great by the way. It made me feel very good that my post could elicit such a deep comment. Unlike you, I was told by some very a-list talented people that I was being derivative (in the beginning, as we all are) and that was something I needed to hear then. . It fucked me up big time in the short term, but in the long run it showed me the way to my own identity as a writer. Learning to use the inspiration of the people you admire and carving out your own niche is what it's all about. As a musician you are part of a long of those who came before., as are we all in our own fields. Thanks for the comment. I loved it.

Kevin Pashuk

7 years ago #2

Gert Scholtz. Slowing down is key. I find that when I walk with a camera in hand, I do take the time to look beyond the obvious and see details in common elements that were previously hidden. I can then 'freeze' (the ultimate in slowing down) to savour later. I'm a 'picture thinker'. The pictures in my mind are formed before the words show up to describe them. Great post.

Gert Scholtz

7 years ago #1

Jim Murray Insightful post Jim. Your line "One of the most beautiful things about the human mind is the clarity that exists there if you just teach yourself how to slow things down." rings very true to me.

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