The Inspiration Virus

How creativity is catching

by Trish Malone, April 04, 2008

I recently received an e-mail from a Chronoogram reader about one of my entries, "10 Questions for the Higher Self". The author of the e-mail said the questions had stopped him in his tracks and got him thinking. He answered the questions for himself and then forwarded it to a number of friends. I was honored to be forwarded. These days we get so many things dropped in our inbox daily that are either intended to inspire, make us laugh, or galvanize us into action. Now my original inspiration, from a movie I saw, inspired someone else, he sent it to others, and so it spread.

There is a "catching" quality to inspiration. It's like a good virus. One person's vision can be transmitted to another. The initial creative impulse is transmuted in its new host into something different. By melding with the unique qualities of the person who now takes it in, a new creative expression comes forth, whether simply by thinking about it, or by producing something else influenced by it. This goes on and on like ripples in a pond.

I think the first time I got inspired by another's creativity was as early as nursery school, watching my tiny neighbor scribble with a fistful of crayons and trying to do the same. With all the new forms of communication we have at our fingertips, it is easier now than it ever has been to express creativity, or take in the creative efforts of a whole connected world on the internet.

This new range of choices brings its own challenges. What and how much to share? What to take in? It also seems pretty hard to stand out in a crowd of billions.

In my work as a psychotherapist, I am lucky to see many young people, who are often engaged in the hard and exciting work of creating a sense of self. The tremendous amount of things they have seen through media influence them and one way they try to integrate it all is by making the on-line collage of a personal web page. Sometimes things they have seen, a horrible moment from a violent movie perhaps, stays with them and disturbs their days and nights. Then we have to work on letting go of someone else's vision; it has intruded into the psyche like a harmful virus.

In our age, the confessional expression of creativity, in blogs, in web pages, or on reality shows, has gone from fringe taboo to commonplace. One good side of this is feeling less alone with our human foibles and painful experiences. One bad side is a sense of general despair. With so many people revealing so much of their own pain and darkness, no matter how exalted they may have seemed, how do we stay inspired?

Creativity which is too saccharine is dull, but creativity mired in perpetual cynicism is no more accurate a picture of human experience. We all live through both salty and sweet moments, we all have an equal capacity for despair or joy. So perhaps it is good to be determined to share the good as well as the bad. When we have a moment of genuine wonder, inspiration, poignancy, depth, or hopefulness, we should share it. Then the good virus will keep evolving, keep spreading, and support us as we find our way in this ever changing world.

Please feel free to write with questions, ideas, or inspiration to uncertaintyguru@joimail.com.

The Uncertainty Guru