Happy New Year! It’s a new year and a new day, packed with tons of possibility and potential for inspiration! When and how will YOUR inspiration come? Will it always be convenient? Will it come when you ask for it? When you acknowledge it? Or when it just plain hits you in the face? Maybe it will be a combination of all three.

I pondered this…and many other things…as I sat in an airport this weekend, waiting for a flight. I was TRYING to read a book on Narrative Analysis for my PhD studies (fascinating book by the way). But you know how the mayhem of an airport during the holidays is…and how helpful airline employees are making announcements every five seconds over the very loud speakers.

So I put in my earphones and cranked up my “study music” playlist. And oh…I’m not sure if that was the most helpful thing to do. As I looked around, I suddenly felt like I was in a movie with my own personal soundtrack. And then there it was, the opening scene for a short film right in front of me. I kept staring at this simple yet potentially powerful scene playing out in front of me. I’m not sure I would have “seen” it if it hadn’t been for the music (which I believe was from the Album, Gregorian Chillout, at that time).

I had my book and a pencil in my hands already, so I just jotted down a few notes on my film idea in the back cover. Okay, back to reading. But not quite. My brain wouldn’t let the movie idea go. What else would happen in the film? As I read, or tried to read, and occasionally looked around, answers came…and I jotted them down…which led to more questions like, “How would it end?” “What would the camera angles be?” “What else would happen?” “What’s the punchline?” And of course that led to more answers…and more questions…and answers, that continued to come as I read a paragraph here and there. Until eventually, the back cover was just about full of scrawled notes and ideas.

I could have stopped questioning. I could have worked harder to concentrate on the book. But hey, sometimes, you just gotta let your brain play for a bit and go with the flow. It’s the same reason I keep a pen and note pad on my bathroom counter, so I can write notes (like I did for this blog post) between taking out my contacts and brushing my teeth. I ask myself questions at the oddest moments (does anyone else do that?), and inspiration also tends to answer back…at very inconvenient times. But I keep asking questions and staying prepared for answers…because it’s oh so much more fun to be interrupted with surprises. And I DID eventually finish reading my book by the way…but not in that airport…

How does inspiration come to YOU?

Here’s a New Year’s Resolution for ya…in case you’re looking for one:

Be ready for inspiration to strike at any moment, ask lots of questions, and…be ready for answers and inspiration to come when it’s entirely inconvenient!