Articles About Inspiration

Artistic Inspiration
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Article starts by saying, "Inspiration in artistic composition refers to an irrational and unconscious burst of creativity."  Next, it gives a good historical outline of the concept.  Beginning with the Ancient Greeks, onto Hebrew, Old Norse, Christian and as well as,  individual definitions of inspiration by John Locke, Jonathan Swift, Edward Young, Edgar Allen Poe, Percy Bysshe Shelly, Sigmund Freud, Surrealist artists, Carl Jung,  etc. See also; Genius, Afflatus, Muses, Revelation, Biblical inspiration.

Brain flash, Meme Black.
Science Digest Aug 1982 v90 p84(5)
(Mental states from flashes of inspiration to altered states of consciousness)

Creative creativity,  Elizabeth Irvin Ross.
Writer's Digest, Jan 1998 v78 n1 p30(4)
How writers can enhance creativity: Author says, write each day, tap into dreams, listen to music, spend quiet time, etc.

Creative Inspiration in Composers, Gowan, John Curtis
Journal of Creative Behavior; 11, 4 4th Q, 249-55, 77

Destination: Inspiration,
San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, May 27, 2001
In the 'Work Section', they ask the question, What do you do when you are low on Inspiration? Here are some of the things that helped; Change of scenery, take a workshop, list things that have gone well, take time off, take a big vacation, see a movie,  take a walk, go to gym, read something, see inspirational movies, talk to people. The main similarly of these suggestions seems to be a change of pace. If your stuck, go do something else.

Don't just wait for inspiration. (Column) Michael J. Bugeja.
Writer's Digest May 1992 v72 n5 p12(5)  
"Three poets, Diane Ackerman, David Baker and William Trowbridge, discuss their methods of finding inspiration."

Drawing From the Wells of Inspiration, 
Smart Leadership Monthly, January 1999,
This article from a website for leadership examines seven sources of inspiration. The sources mentioned are Information, Necessity, Sensation, Perspective, Initiative, Resolve, and Experience. The articles first line, "What do writers long for, speakers hope for, inventors live by and leaders rely on?" The author gives a list of suggestions for things to do to get inspired; "Read widely and with purpose, Work on your attitude, Gain the habit of initiative, Create learning experiences."

Drugs and inspiration. Al Alvarez
Social Research, Fall 2001 v68 i3 p779(16)
ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The author talks about relationship between drugs and inspiration, exploring how both the Romantics and Beats used drugs as a gateway to inspiration.

Following the Muses, Heidi Benson,
San Francisco Chronicle, Datebook, Sunday, November 24, 2002.
Reviews the book, Lives of the Nine Muses by Francine Prose, Practice changing your perspective,

From Where Comes Inspiration?,  Kyle Kirkland,  
 The author, who has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience,  explores the question, What is inspiration and where does it come from? Is it from the; Divine, subconscious, or brain?   Basically, he thinks inspiration takes place in the subconscious. We take in stimulation from many sources but are not aware of it all.   He Says, "This article certainly describes a lot of evidence that the brain can work in mysterious -- and subconscious -- ways. Unfortunately that doesn't prove it's the source of the strange phenomenon of sudden and seemingly miraculous inspiration; but then again, it's hard, at least for me, to deny that the brain is by far the best candidate."

Furious insolence: the social meaning of poetic inspiration in the 1590s. John Huntington
Modern Philology, Feb 1997 v94 n3 p305(22)

How Do You Believe in a Mystery?,  by Loudon Wainwright III 
Part of the NPR radio series called, "This I Believe". A short easy about where the Singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright talks about his inspiration. He says, "It's a bit like fishing, really. There's certainly luck involved, but maybe what you took for laziness was (and I'm going out on a limb here) a sort of divine relaxation."  Also, check out his song, "Muse Blues", about the uninspired artists frustrating experience of seeking inspiration.

The idea of inspiration in eighteenth-century literary theory, Debra Morris Smith
The South Atlantic Quarterly v 85 Spring 1986.p. 183-91.

Inspiration: Core Characteristics, Component Antecedents, and Function
Todd M. Thrash and Andrew J. Elliot
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
2004, Vol. 87, No. 6, 957–973

Inspiration (1885)
Robert Green Ingersoll

Inspiration. (a sociologist's views), Andrew W. Metcalfe.
The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, May 1999 v36 i2 p217(2)

Inspiration,   Alan G. Hefner.
Themystica.com -  An on-line encyclopedia of the occult, mysticism, magic, paranormal and more...
The article starts off by saying, "Inspiration is a phenomenon of the right hemisphere of the human brain in which profound insights, information, and intuitions burst through to the waking consciousness with startling clarity."  An interesting article, lists  three states needed for inspiration: positive motivation, relaxation, and dissociation. Mentions how some well now people experienced inspiration and lists meditation, deep prayer, fasting, psychedelic drugs, and the beginning of acute psychosis as helping to bring on the experience.

Inspiration and well-being. Invitations to Dialogue,  Tobin Hart
Dubuque, IO: Kendall/Hunt.(1999), .265-276,

Inspiration and Revelation: What It Is and How It Works, Roger W. Coon
A religious view.

Inspiration and the Romantic Body: Nietzsche and H.D. (pp. 170-90), Timothy Clark,
 in - The Theory of Inspiration: Composition as a Crisis of Subjectivity in Romantic and post-Romantic Writing.  

Inspiration’s Effects on Motivation, Self-Worth, and Mood, Ryan Cutter
A 2000 thesis. Has list of references.

Inspiration: exploring the experience and its meaning,  Tobin Hart.
in - The Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Summer 1998 v38 n3 p7(29)
An interesting article about the experience of inspiration. This is from a university class project where students conducted 70 interviews of ordinary people. The article begins with an overview of the experience of inspiration in literature and  then discusses an analysis of the interviews.  Four general characteristics of inspiration emerged in the research, they are connection, opened, clarity, and energy.  Each area is discussed in depth. The end contains an extensive bibliography.

Inspiration Of Bible; A Few Reasons For Doubting The Inspiration Of The Bible.
Robert Green Ingersoll
Gives arguments for doubting the inspiration of the Bible.

Inspiration Points, Robert Mcgarvey,
An article in Entrepreneur magazine - September 1997 about inspiring employees. Inspire your employees to get more work out of them. How to do this? "Communicate your purpose to employees."

Inspiration, Mediumship, Surrealism: The Concept Of Creative Dissociation, Michael Grosso
(from Broken Images, Broken Selves: Dissociative Narratives in Clinical Practice)
Starts off by saying, "Dissociation is a normal part of mental life. For example, sometimes after a telephone conversation I find I have been doodling and have unconsciously produced an intricate drawing."  An interesting article about how when you are inspired, you are disassociated from yourself. For example, the Muses, God, or another power takes over and it's not you speaking writing, creating, etc.  The author explores 3 forms of interrelated dissociation:  inspiration, mediumship, and surrealism. Many different writers, artists, and situations are given as examples in this clear to read article. (One question I have is what is the self that is being left behind?)

Inspiration -V- Perspiration, John G. Sutton,
John discusses the relationship between inspiration and work, mentioning Thomas Edison, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Paul McCartney, etc.

Inspiration: where do you find it?   Ann Perle.
Workforce, June 1997 v76 n6 p139(2)
Inspiration in the workplace. The author asked the following questions of 20 peers and colleagues: "What do you do to stay inspired at work? How do you get yourself back on track when you're just going through the paces?" Some responses were, remembering a past success or achievement, by the talent of fellow workers, taking the time to sit back and reflect for a moment, etc.

The Principles of Excellence -  King Solomon’s Masterclass in Creativity, John A Thomas.
Part 2 – Your Creative Mind  - Be Inspired
In this online book, the author discusses creativity as well as inspiration.  He starts by saying,
"Almost three thousand years ago, King Solomon of ancient Israel was divinely inspired to identify the fundamental principles of personal success and creative genius and record them for posterity in the enigmatic verse of the "Song of Songs",".  The section, Be Inspired, focuses on inspiration. The article contains many quotes. There's a focus on the unconsciousness and metaphorical love making as sources of creativity and inspiration.

Mistresses and Muses, Cynthia Robins
San Francisco Chronicle, June 30, 2001
About women that inspired artists. The women include, Pamela  Harriman, Alma Schindler, Caroline Blackwood, etc. The author says the traits they shared were they could fascinate and had a complete disregarded for the sexual mores of the time.

Mystical Power of Poems, Hilary Huttner
excerpted from Mystical Delights; The Mystical Experiences of Famous Poets,
The article discusses the power and state of mind of poetry. The section, Poetic Consciousness, discusses what some poets, such as, T.S Eliot, William Blake, Coleridge, etc. have said about inspiration.

Myth gives way to real-life inspirations, Steve Winn,
San Francisco Chronicle, Datebook, Sunday, November 24, 2002
Discusses the Muses. The article was inspired by the book,  Lives of the Nine Muses by Francine Prose.

Need inspiration?, Linda Batt
The Writer, .August 2002

On Divine Frenzy, 1457, Marsilio Ficino: 7th Letter,
Marsilio, in a letter to a friend,  discusses divine frenzy which he claims comes from the Muses and Jove. The word frenzy, seems to come from Plato's term "madness".

On Inspiration, Ignacio Gotz
(x)Cross Currents v 48 no4 Winter 1998/1999.p. 510-17.

First Line:  "It is one of the most mysterious moments in any one's life, the instant when things "click" and fall neatly in place, or a new idea flashes in the dark."  The author says, many different people have had this experience;  religious mystics, artists, scientists and mathematicians.  However, the relationship between inspiration, truth and knowledge has been lost.   Plato believed true inspiration is guided by knowledge and can be summed up with the metaphor of, "If inspiration is like the wind all vessels need for movement, knowledge is the helm."  So, according to Plato and Ignacio  Gotz, "only the philosopher can be a true artist" or experience true inspiration.

On Inspiration, (authors writings about their sources of inspiration) John Ashbery, John Barth, Saul Bellow, John Berryman, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Erskine Caldwell, Truman Capote, Joyce Cary, John Cheever, James Dickey, Joan Didion, E.L. Doctorow, J.P. Donleavy, William Faulkner, Joseph Heller.
The Paris Review Summ 1988 v30 n107 p233(29)

On Inspiration, S. Hymer,
Psychotherapy Patient, (1990), 6 (3-4), 17-38.

Perspiration and Inspiration, Margaret Chittenden
 (x)The Writer v108 p13-15+ My '95
The author gives advice for getting and developing ideas for writers.  "Watch for a spark passing through your mind. You might be half asleep in bed, or reading a book, gardening, dancing, taking a walk.... If you don't keep a sharp lookout, the idea will pass right on through without catching fire." Margaret also says you need the perspiration of;  taking courses in creative writing, studying books on creative writing, reading hundreds of novels, studying English grammar and spelling.

Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland [1887]
Lady Francesca Speranza Wilde
Poet Inspiration--Eodain the Poetess
"THE Leanan-Sidhe, or the spirit of life, was supposed to be the inspirer of the poet and singer, as the Ban-Sidhe was the spirit of death, the foreteller of doom." A short chapter about the Irish Leanan-Sidhe, spirit of life, giver of inspiration to the poet and the musician

Pondering the riddle of creativity, Daniel Goleman.
The New York Times, March 22, 1992 v141 s2 pH1(N) pH1(L) col 2 (64 col in
(the psychology of imagination and inspiration in artists))  The article is a synopsis of the four-part PBS series, The Creative Spirit, April 2, 1992.

Raja Yoga, Swami Vivekananda,
The author talks about the source of inspiration and relates it to yoga and reason. He starts off by saying,  "We find, in studying history, that one fact is held in common by all the great teachers of religion the world has ever had: they all claim to have got their truths from beyond; only many of them did not know where they got them from."

Ralph Waldo Emerson : an estimate of his character and genius, Amos Bronson Alcott,
He has some interesting things to say about inspiration, "from fountains flowing with nectar, and gathered flowers from the gardens and glades of the Muses; they, like bees, being ever on the wing. For the poet was a thing light-winged and sacred, unable to compose until he became inspired, and the imagination was no longer under his control. For as long as he was in complete possession of it, he was unable to compose verses or to speak oracularly."

Rediscovering Our Muses: Finding Our Personal Sources of Inspiration, Tracy Marks,
Women of Power magazine, winter 1989-90
This is actually a workshop the author holds on finding your personal Muses and inspiration. She starts off by saying,  "Women today are searching for meaning, passion and inspiration. We devote  ourselves to a spiritual path, become politically active, or immerse  ourselves in our chosen art or career."

Reflections On Inspiration, Gaither Stewart
The author is skeptical about the Romanization of inspiration. The essay starts off interestingly, he says. "I shy away from the word “inspiration”. As a writer I do not trust it."  I found it got a bit confusing toward the middle and end.. I think his point is you have to work and dig out the inspiration instead of waiting for it.

Sources of Inspiration -  Hinman, Martha R
 2006 Linda Crane Lecture
Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy Journal,  Jun 2006  
A memorial lecture for the Cardiovascular and Pulmonary, Education, and Pediatrics sections. The author explores the experience of inspiration.  Martha wanted to know what what made people "inspirational". She did a lot of research into this and asked these questions. What is inspiration? Where do we find it?  How does it affect what we do as physical therapists? She obtained her information from 3 sources: "the health care literature, personal interviews with physical therapists, and a case study of Linda Crane based on interviews with her family and close friends."  The article is geared toward Physical Therapists.
 

Sources of Inspiration for Native American Artists
Discovering Multicultural America. Gale Research, 1996. Reproduced in Student Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. October, 2001.
Some Native American artists obtain inspiration through dreams.

Taliesin
The Mabinongion
Translated from the Welsh by Lady Charlotte Guest (1849)
The Mabinogion is a group of Welsh tales from the Red Book of Hergest, a 14th Century manuscript maintained at Jesus College, Oxford.
The story of the Cauldron of Inspiration.

The Act of Writing: A Media Theory Approach, Daniel Chandler
This is an article (actually more of a 250+ page book) about writing, but has a short section on inspiration. It contains lost of quotes from writers. The author starts by  saying,  "Key features of the experience are said to be: the sudden and unanticipated appearance of ideas; a bypassing of any deliberate intention on the part of the writer (the writing is often said to be ‘involuntary’); considerable automaticity in the act of writing; and a sense of surprise at what is produced." There's some discussion of inspiration and then the working and reworking aspect of writing.

Ten Ways to Find Your Inspiration, Jan Gordon,
The Author says, "The word inspire comes from the Latin word for inspirare, which means to breath upon or into. When we inspire others, we're living from our higher selves. " She goes on to give 10 ways get in contact with your inspiration, such as; know what inspires you, take a break,  surround yourself with what inspires you, etc

The idea of inspiration in eighteenth-century literary theory, Debra Morris Smith,
The South Atlantic Quarterly v 85 Spring 1986.p. 183-91.

The Inspiration of Scripture, (Commission on Theology and Church Relations, LCMS)
This article offers a Lutheran theological exploration of the difference between inspiration and revelation.  "Inspiration and revelation are terms which designate very closely related spiritual realities.... But inspiration and revelation are not completely coextensive terms. Revelation can occur without inspiration; inspiration can occur without revelation."(x)

The Meaning And Extent Of Inspiration In II Timothy 3 :16,  Frank L. Griffith,
2 Timothy 3:16  All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.
This article offers an extremely detailed study of inspiration in the mentioned verse. The author goes into the Greek meaning of the word. He says, "The basic problem of interpretation in II Timothy 3:16 revolves around two major questions: What is the meaning of "inspiration" and what is the extent of this "inspiration"?"(x)

The Miracle of Inspiration,  Henry T. Finck,
(x) An article about the inspiration of some famous composers, such as, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc

The Power Of Inspiration,  Kris Vicencio,
(x) He says about inspiration, "It’s the motivational force which allows you to increase your creative flow."  The author is a caricaturists and gives advice and 12 ways to get the Inspiration going? (It's sort of a 12 step approach)   They include; raise your standards, study, journaling, meditate, sketch daily, read, get involved, do it for a higher purpose, look within, etc.

The Return to Poetics - A Review-Essay on Timothy Clark's The Theory of Inspiration and Theresa Kelley's Reinventing Allegory."
Matthew Scott

The Varieties of Religious Experience
William James
Includes some examples of peoples experience of inspiration.

Three short, in-class writings in response to "What is Inspiration", 
After reading Platos' Ion, here are three short, in-class writings in response to the question, What is inspiration?  

Understanding the experience of inspiration, Tobin Hart,
 (1996).  American Psychological Association, Annual Convention. (Toronto) August

Unshrouding the muse: the anatomy of inspiration, John Briggs
Art News v 79 Apr 1980.p. 52-5.

Waiting for inspiration, Peggy Rynk,
The Writer v 105 Sept 1992. p. 9-10.
She says good writing requires practice not inspiration.

What Inspires You?, 
Readers of the Sierra Clubs magazine, Sierra,  share personal stories of what inspired their environmental activism.

When inspiration does strike, you may find you don't have anything to write with,  Enid Nemy.
The New York Times Oct 29, 1989 v139 s1 p42(L) col 1 (16 col in)
(creative ideas abound when one takes a shower) (column)

The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
Volume II (Lectures): Some Mistakes of Moses: Orthodoxy
Some Reasons Why
III: Inspiration :  "We are told that we have in our possession the inspired will of God. What is meant by the word "inspired" is not exactly known; but whatever else it may mean, certainly it means that the "inspired" must be the true. If it is true, there is, in fact, no need of its being inspired--the truth will take care of itself."
Orthodoxy
Inspiration
Lectures where the author examines and criticizes the religious notion of inspiration.

Writing and inspiration, Jay Parini
(x)The Writer Magazine: Apr 1999
The author says writing is like being a grocer. You open the door every day and wait for the customers to come. Maybe they come, maybe they don't.  Jay  then discusses the geneses of one of a his poems and later says, "After thirty years, I still find myself puzzled by this thing called "inspiration." Why does the energy flow from unseen, bountiful sources one day, then dry up the next? I doubt that anyone can answer this, but there are ways of dealing with a seeming lack of inspiration." To spark his own inspiration he reads other well known authors.
see a review of this article by Cacoethes Scribendi
 

See also:
A list of articles about inspiration and the bible.