Looking for Inspiration

“I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning.”- Peter De Vries

It’s tempting to blame the lack of inspiration on mere procrastination, but Peter De Vries understood that inspiration dwelled within. He didn’t go looking for it, nor did he sit around and wait for it to show up; he just got up every morning and turned it on like punching a time clock.

I admire his discipline, but for him writing was evidently a nine to five job, which is exactly the lifestyle I’ve chosen to eschew, or more accurately, the one I escaped from in the nick of time, dragging to safety by a loose thread my authentic self, while trying to kick off the greed monster who had sunk its sharp teeth into my right ankle; all this while searching desperately for the key that would unlock the golden handcuffs that bound me to that damned clock!

Now that I’m free, and living a totally new lifestyle (is this what being in the witness protection program feels like) I’m just not willing to punch that clock.

Even so, I refuse to succumb to procrastination. I keep my commitments without having to look for inspiration. After all they’re the commitments I freely chose for myself. Okay, with the exception of, scrubbing the floor; that one’s a trade-off, and the inspiration comes from knowing someone else will mow the lawn.

So while I know inspiration can be called upon when needed, I prefer sometimes to let it come to me rather than to try to turn it on based on a set schedule. It seems to know when the time is right. If I need to prepare for a class, there’s no use looking for inspiration to work on memoir, its just not going to come without a struggle. If a scene from my past is stuck in my head, I may as well not even think about trying to prepare a presentation. I get the scene on paper, and lo and behold, I’m inspired to get ready for that class.

And now if you’ll excuse me, my muse is calling; not to write or teach, but to scrub the floor. Oh wait a minute, that’s not my muse, it’s just a lawn mower outside my window.