CREATIVITY | LIFE | INSPIRATION

Conventional Wisdom of Using 17 Muscles Inspires Me-Smile.

Dancing Elephants Prompt 9 of 52

Introduction 🧐

I would have never been an online writer if not for Seth Gordon’s The Practice. Neither would I have shared my personal stories with others on paper. Nor would I have been inspired to be on a self-discovery journey. His 225 gold Nuggets gave me the confidence to be on the hook and consistent without caring about the reactions. He says, “audience needs your consistent voice,” I realized what I contribute matters. But if I don’t share it with others, then there is no possibility of change that might be possible.

Topics of interest, areas of angst, and arenas of inquiry found an outlet for me. It releases the pressure of how good or bad it is or the embarrassment of criticism and rejection. I will always have another opportunity to perfect my craft as long as I keep doing what I like day after day and make myself accountable.

Purpose 🤔

Morning Pages (Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way) help me vent my frustrations about everything and iron out the accuracies and efficiencies of ideas and how they sound when they’re written.

Instead of writing about how awful I feel about myself, blaming the universe and others for my failures, for my writing purposes, I want to ignite hope, get the audiences excited about an idea, or entertain them with fictional stories.

Consistency is the key to being successful. My idea of success as far as writing is concerned is to develop originality, authenticity, and credibility to convince, educate, and share my perspective on topics of my choice.

Ultimately, the accumulation of knowledge is my primary goal that is achievable; both reading and writing will not be my primary mode of sustenance. It’s my life as it makes me a better thinker, teacher, and trainer; whatever I do to earn money has become easier as I write more and more.

“How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” E. M. Forster.

Inspiration to write is sparked by writing every day without breaks. Sometimes, I do things for myself, like reading and re-reading books for weeks for a deeper understanding of concepts and occasionally researching interesting topics for months to create a working theory.

Routinely, shorter pieces are conceptualized for online publication: poetry, posts, and short stories. Daily exercises to improve vocabulary are also a great help.

Writing is a selfish pursuit as it sets me from emotional baggage through poems, my fictional characters get birthed in short stories, and silly anecdotal examples are told from my feline’s perspective.

“To survive, you must tell stories.” Umberto Eco, The Island of the Day Before.

I’m still learning to write to connect with my audiences without compromising my authentic self. I’m not writing for fame or a game but to flame my creativity to keep myself motivated, satiated, and satisfied when the clouds of despair surround me, and my writing shines through them.

Problems 😇

Distractions of any kind disturb the flow of my thoughts. It’s my biggest weakness-a stray thoughts can send disturbing signals to suck up my energy instantly. An old wound can ignite an emotional storm requiring TLC from my precious quota. A distant memory blurs my clarity anytime. Modern technology is still used productively or shut off. Conservation of energy has become my primary focus, and I guard it like a hawk.

I’m unsuccessful most of the time; hence, my writing and other aspects of my life suffer. A calm mind lets me go through the chores if life gets in the way; that happens regularly, and it’s hard to be creatively inspired.

Even thirty minutes of uninterrupted time with my writing is enough to nurture my creativity, simmering under the weight of tasks to be daily to put food on the table and pay the bills. Something small, if it can be written or painted, is a message to the universe that I tried my best as gratitude for giving me this life to fulfill my dreams.

Life treats us with hilarity, calamity, and revelry, providing ample opportunity to change, adapt, and grow with the circumstances. Catastrophic events were the hardest but most rewarding, as I quickly learned life-altering lessons.

“Tears are words that need to be written.” Paulo Coelho.

However, my greatest struggle has been with the inner demons that come out to suck my creative energies and deviate from the writing process. The stormy weather inside capsizes me in the middle of volcanic lava of self-doubt.

“Words are a lens to focus one’s mind.” Ayn Rand.

At some point, all of us have dealt with the mountains of insecurities, the oceans of doubts, and the jungles of fear. The struggles, stress, and sweat of life to keep breathing and surviving trials and tribulations leave many of us exhausted.

The daring designs of the ego to destroy inner peace is rampant, with the dazzling array of choices appearing out of nowhere to aid in disrupting the agenda and even more bizarre justification that it’s worth abandoning it.

When the thunderous clouds strike, so much tremor inside the heart breaks the embankments of resilience. When the silence is so deafening, it punctures the eardrums, stops the regular rhythmic heartbeats into constricting breath, and isolates every echo. When the emotions are triggered by a sly comment, pity stare, and astute acknowledgment of my dire struggles.

Solution 🤨

No, not the outsiders but the inner critic, vigilante, and connoisseur of negative thoughts. I’m at a loss momentarily, getting into defensive mode and wasting the precious time saved after careful planning. Defense leads to debate where the all-knowing critic defeats me, starting the unproductive mode. Tada-another artifact is added to the negative energy reservoir.

Meditative practice is sidelined for sulking, the flow of ideas is stopped for the misery session, and, best of all, writing is used for venting useless complaints no one would find even mildly reasonable.

When there is no way out to calm down, I smile 😊 😃 with assurance as a new pathway is visible, a new perspective is revealed, or a new story idea is formed, and phew-the demons vanish in the thin air, the silence returns to its calming mode, and breathing becomes normal.

Concluding thoughts 🤓

If I had just one word to describe how to get inspired, I would say just smile, thinking, “This too shall pass.”

“Our mortality makes it impossible for our problems to last forever.” Mokokoma Mokhonoana

We were meant to get a grip on our emotions with outrageous creative acts. Whenever dilapidating anxiety, demonic ideologue, or tragic event seems to have a crippling effect, break the cycle by calmly picking up a pen to write, a pencil to draw, a paintbrush to paint, a podium to speak, or a pan to cook.

Never let the inner demons have a victorious day in life.❤️

© Fatima Imam (All Rights Reserved)

This post is written in response to Dr. Gabriella Korosi’s prompt for her publication:

Sincere thanks to the illustrious editors of DEP for providing an amazing outlet for my creativity. ❤️❤️ Dr. Gabriella Korosi Dr. Preeti Singh Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles Annelise Lords.

I had the pleasure of reading Leah Lynch’s lovely post on self-love:

Dr. Preeti Singh’s posts always leave me in awe:

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