Inspiration Strikes · 23 May 2026
I recently got a fortune from a fortune cookie that said:
“Follow the trail of inspiration; it leads to greatness.”
Poppycock!
I think that inspiration is great. I think it can lead lots of places. But I also think that we place too much emphasis on inspiration. And when we think that inspiration is the is all to end all, we are in for trouble. Especially, if we are writers.
Now, I am not saying that people should not follow inspiration. They often should. It might even lead to greatness. But many people think that they need to wait to be inspired to do any work. They think that inspiration will strike like lightning and they will automatically be great if they follow that inspiration strike. The problem with this mentality is that people often wait and wait and wait. It is as if there is no cloud in the sky, but these people are going to wait for the lightning to come. But it rarely comes for those who just wait for it. Just like lightning rarely strikes out of a blue sky.
Personally, I think that inspiration strikes when we are working. When we are doing what we need to do. When we are busy doing anything but waiting. For the work is what inspires us. “What if I did it a different way? What if there was some tool for that? What if…” These questions do not come about when a person waits for inspiration, they come about when a person is working. When a person is doing what he or she is supposed to be doing.
The inspiration lightning strikes more often for those people busy doing what they are supposed to be doing than for those who are waiting. I suppose that is because there are often storm clouds looming. Deadlines and pressure tend to bring those clouds into view. And then, the lightning strikes. From those dark, stormy clouds.
I used to write like that. Waiting for inspiration. In fact, I would mostly write when life got me down. When there was a great loss. Usually death. I sometimes even despaired of writing because inspiration only seemed to strike when a loved one died. I wrote a poem or a song or a remembrance of that loved one. But I wrote it too late. I wrote the odes when my loved ones were not around to hear the words.
Which is why I write nearly every day. Or at least part of why I write on such a schedule. I do not want to wait for death or destruction or calamity to strike before I write. Before I am inspired. I want to write about the mundane as well as the inspirational.
I do think that inspiration is a marvelous thing. I look forward to it happening on those rare or even not so rare occasions. And yes. Sometimes we really ought to follow that inspiration. But we should never wait for inspiration. We should work diligently and inspiration will strike. Sometimes from the most mundane things. Sometimes from a silly fortune cookie.
© 2026 Michael T. Miyoshi
| Share on facebook | Tweet |
|
Comment
| Write Something Great |