Zen College Life

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I’ve been thinking a lot about motivation and inspiration.  I started swimming 5 weeks ago, and I’ve swam at least 5 times each week.  Sometimes I didn’t feel like swimming and did it anyways, but most of the time I really want to go.  I know what motivates me to swim; fitness and the fact that when I was young I used to go to my grandpas house many times throughout each summer and we’d bbq and swim in his pool.  I have very fond memories of those times, and I think that keeps me interested in getting in the water. 

But I’ve found that many times my motivation for writing has dipped.  It’s not because I don’t enjoy writing, in fact I love it.  But sometimes my mind just isn’t in it.  I sometimes lose the enthusiasm for writing.  But today I stumbled upon the solution.  Many people look for inspiration everywhere they go.  They see it.  They hear it.  The read it.  They taste it? I don’t know exactly where it comes from, but it is an external force that makes its way inside of them. But I think I’ve found a better way (a way that people have been using for centuries).

The solution is so simple.  Have multiple mediums for artistic expression.  My writing enthusiasm was lacking, so I started to dedicate myself to graphic design.  Then I decided to create a calling card and all of a sudden I want to write all day.  I take a break to pick up my guitar for a little while, and again, a wave of enthusiasm rushes over me.  I always thought that artists were a little weird, but now I realize it is because they think so abstractly, through so many mediums of thought, that us ‘normies’ are bound to think they are crazy.  They are just on a different level of consciousness, maybe not higher, but a lateral movement less connected to the world.

So that’s it.  Losing inspiration?  Find a new medium.  If you paint, sing.  If you draw, write.  If you play guitar, cook.  Any of these ideas will lead you to a new form of inspiration, and since we are all artists of some sort anyways, you will find new ways to express yourself with every different medium you choose, and having more ways of expression means more creativity, which leads to greater art.

I hope you find this as inspiring as I have.  Now choose a new medium, get to work, go forth, and be great!

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