The less I look for inspiration, the more it finds me

The humbling reality of inspiration’s place in an artist’s life

Isn’t it interesting how one of the great fears of being an artist is to one day run out of ideas. Just being empty.

It’s terrifying really because no ideas would mean the end of a creative era and the beginning of a dark long winter.

But what is creativity if not the ability to come up with new ideas even when in drought season?

The ironic thing is, and maybe it’s the same for you, that the more I look for inspiration the less I find it.

And when I don’t look for it, it appears. Especially in very inconvenient moments like in the middle of the night, when I’m driving, taking a shower or have something else very important to do.

It’s as if inspiration has a way of constantly reminding me that I’m not in charge. That no matter how much I want to control it, to have it on-demand when it suits me, I can’t and have to learn to submit to its power.

This doesn’t mean that I’m completely powerless or else I wouldn’t have been able to maintain my embroidery art business all these years.

It just means that I have to embody humbleness, acceptance and presence to not let my worries overtake the space that inspiration needs to flourish. And frankly, it requires quite a lot of space!

The more I’m present in my daily life and focus on observing my surroundings as well as my internal life the more frequent inspiration pays a visit.

It can come in the form of a conversation, a song, a smell, an old tree or something completely different.

Inspiration has no rules. It appears when you least expect it and stays away when you most want it.

And that’s why I love inspiration. Because you can’t hack it. It’s one of those basic human experiences that doesn’t change through time because there’s no new technology that can suddenly invent the sensation of inspiration.

There’s not a modern version of inspiration, only the ancient one that probably dates back as late as humans have walked the earth.

And that’s bloody brilliant if you ask me (even if I admit that it can also be really frustrating!).

Thanks for reading,

Elin, xx

I’d love to hear your thoughts on inspiration! Do you easily get inspired or is finding inspiration like a full time job in itself?

Ps. Inspiration to this letter came from scrolling through the archive and stumbling across this video of me stitching in the centre of Ljubljana, Slovenia about 1.5 years ago just before my second daughter was born there.

What’s fascinating with process videos of artworks is that they tell a greater story than just the art itself. I often feel inspired by the surrounding, which makes them reflect a certain place at a certain time. But they also hold the story of what’s going on behind the scenes while making the piece… it’s all a bundle of inspirational loveliness really.

P.p.s if you felt inspired by this post, a like, comment or share would greatly help to spread the inspiration further 💗

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