I’m beginning a new section on this site called The Inspiration Project. Similar to The Influences Project, where I ask project-makers which writer or artist has most influenced their work, The Inspiration Project will ask project-makers to explore and discuss what inspired a particular project.
I’m always thinking about inspiration, the funny ways it can hit, the search for it, where it comes from, how to cultivate it. Thinking about it again today reminded me of a short essay I wrote back in 1997, which I am posting below.
If you’re so inclined, please post a comment about something that has recently inspired you.
We Are The Music Makers
(written in 1997, upon publication of a now defunct zine)
Something that I’ve been thinking about lately is inspiration. What makes someone do something, first, and then what makes someone do something new and different and totally amazing. It’s all tied into a million things, but on a simple level, you can break it down to inspiration.
I have to diligently search for inspiration. Or do I? That’s what I’ve been analyzing, trying to see how and where I get my inspiration.
Given my recent publishing project, which focuses on independent projects, I have been paying close attention to information in the newspaper, on the web, in a magazine, on the radio or television, about projects people have created. And I have found that hearing about, seeing, or reading about other people’s projects is an incredible source of inspiration for me.
Initially, I sometimes get outright jealous, even bitter, that someone else has created some great project and all I get to do is participate as a ticket buyer or onlooker.
But once I rise above such inner turmoil, knowing full well that it comes from my own self-doubt and insecurities, I let the projects of other people fuel my energy and ideas and focus so that I, too, create projects. In short, I am inspired.
Seeing all the zines at Cody’s Books or Naked Eye, checking out an independent label’s website and seeing that it has a huge roster of bands, seeing a film by an independent filmmaker, either on video or at a movie theatre. Maybe I’m just reading the newspaper and I’ll see an ad for a "CD release party" for a band that I’ve never heard about before. All of these things inspire me.
And then there are things like that scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, when the little bratty girl tells Willy Wonka that there’s no such thing as a "snozberry." Willy Wonka is startled by the little girl’s comment. He then leans over and whispers into her ear: "We are the music makers. And we are the dreamers of the dream." I love that fucking scene. I find total inspiration in those words. We are the music makers. And we are the dreamers of the dream.
I recently read an article in the New Yorker about Egon Schiele, an artist with a distinct and unique technique, who shook up the art scene, was admired and loathed, formed an influential art group, had successful shows, and created a prolific body of beautiful, engaging, controversial work. Not until almost the end of the article is the artist’s age mentioned. He died at 28. I have to find a balance between feelings of shock, jealousy, and inspiration when I read about such people.
I went to see this woman speak about her son, Dan Eldon. She put together a book of excerpts from his journal, which were photo-based and very artistic. Dan Eldon was a photographer and did all kinds of work in Africa. His photojournalism appeared in numerous major magazines. He ended up getting stoned to death by an angry mob while he was trying to photograph the results of a bombing. He was 22. Dan Eldon’s book is called The Journey is the Destination. Check it out the next time you are in a bookstore. Dan Eldon’s story is a reminder that we don’t have forever to find our inspiration, that we cannot put off until tomorrow what can be done today, because there may not be a tomorrow. Dan Eldon, even at his untimely death at 22, had a wealth inspiration. His journals are the proof.
The other night I heard this guy give a talk about the music industry, and he was discussing the different ways in which local, independent bands get people to come to their shows. He said that one band he knows made a cassette tape consisting of two songs from their album. Instead of just passing out flyers, this band passed out these tapes to people. When a band member gave the tape to someone, he said, "come to our show, bring this tape to the door, and you’ll get in free." The band ended up getting 80 tapes back, which it then used to promote its next show.
On the radio I heard this guy talk about his new literary journal on the web. While talking about his site, he mentioned this other person who I’ve known since college, who also has a literary journal on the web. The conversation made me say to myself, I want a literary journal on the web.
Discovering inspiration is an ability buried so deeply within some people that they never find it. But really all you have to do is look around, listen, take a closer look at that article you are reading. It’s there, behind you, at the picture you will see later on today. It’s a fleeting memory, something your friend says, an image that makes you angry. It’s within you already, waiting to be tapped, triggered by happenstance or years of study, ready to make a difference.
Again, please post a comment about something that has recently inspired YOU.
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http://www.sksantos.com/
My mind works like a huge visual sponge taking in visuals that inspire my own illustrations. Here is just one of many sites I’ve dropped by recently and took an extra moment to mentally photograph. There are a few older/core inspirations at my site that inspired me to start branding myself.
To tell you the truth, I’m usually inspired by what people I know are up to. I’m not trying to be a kiss-ass, Mr. Yamaguchi, but your antics are usually pretty inspiring to me.
And, by inspiration, I mean the slight kick in the pants to just keep on going and doing what I know I want to do. I’m not inspired necessarily by big names, famous people, or anything like that. I don’t know them. I don’t know what their daily lives are like or how hard it is for them to create after working a day job, being married, paying bills, etc. My friends all have to deal with daily life and for them to still be creative and inquisitive and willing to share their visions. That’s inspiring.
Yah!
Other artists and writers inspire me even if I am not particularly interested in their chosen medium. It’s the creative effort, their imagination, the COLOR, the depth of emotion I feel when I’m immersed in art and writing–theirs or my own. I feel an overwhelming sense of urgency at times to create “something” after I see someone else’s creative endeavors.
Thanks for clearing up that piece of Wonka dialog for me. I need to watch the movie again. When the movie first came out during the seventies, our white gym teacher read the book to my predominately poor inner city third grade class. I felt he knew that most of our parents could not take us even if they wanted. Although he had good intentions, it felt more like punishment to us because we wanted to run around and play kickball.
I did read the book during my teen years, but I did not see the original film in its entirely until my late thirties. I had seen bits and pieces of the movie, but never would try to view it all the way through. Finally my children wanted to see it on TV, so I forced myself to watch it. Maybe my perception of the film was so clouded by that past childhood experience that I could never really get all its nuances. However, I did love the music as a child when I would hear the TV promos, and realized that I still had affection for it now.