The science behind inspiration and how to design more of it into your life
Practical ways to nurture creative practices in the everyday
If you’re like me, connecting with the creative muse has felt a bit strained the past few years. Finding inspiration can be hard in what feels like a nonstop stream of awful news, marked by climate disasters, humanitarian crises, a global pandemic, and what feels like the political upside-down. Staying inspired can be challenging as we experience a collective mental health dip¹ and work burnout is on the rise². And applying inspiration to our pursuits can feel downright impossible, with just the ping of a phone to interrupt our flow state and send us back to square one. Managing our time and energy in the “attention economy” means we are spending more time in front of screens than ever before and consuming a whopping five times more information than we did only 50 years ago³.
All of this can leave you wondering — when did being inspired feel like so much work?
Curiosity and wonder are innate to all humans, and particularly prevalent in children, but over time, as questions turn to knowledge and we use judgment to navigate the world, we are in this mindset less. And similar to muscles that atrophy, our natural ability to feel inspired can be harder to tap into the less often we use it. When I joined Pinterest in Spring of 2020, I was keen to unpack the nebulous concept of inspiration (Pinterest is colloquially known as the “home of inspiration”) in a time that felt anything but. Three and half years in, here’s what I’ve learned.
Defining Inspiration
The root of inspire can be traced to the Latin word “inspirare,” which literally translates to “to breathe into,” and in early usage, the term’s meaning evolved into “to draw air into the lungs.” Metaphorically, this mirrors the inspiration process: We take inspiration from the world around us — “breathing it in” — and then “breathe it back out” through how we apply it to our lives.
Researcher Daron Sharps, Ph.D., breaks inspiration down into a helpful framework with two phases. 1) Insight which refers to what we absorb or take in, and 2) Movement which is how we act on it in the world. Just like breathing, input and output are connected; without movement, insight is simply knowledge, and conversely, taking action without insight is simply… doing.
A good place to start when thinking about how inspiration shows up in your life is to ask: Where do I spend my time? For instance, do you spend most of your time taking fodder in (shows, books, experiences, etc.) but find yourself stunted or overwhelmed when trying to translate it into a creative pursuit? Or do you focus more on tasks, but maybe less time to pause, reflect, or experience something new? Getting your inspiration groove back starts with asking, “Where in the inspiration process am I feeling the most stuck?” Wherever you find yourself struggling, here are some simple practices that can help you reignite this process and build confidence as you go.
INSIGHT
Practice structured observation
Part of the “insight” phase is allowing yourself to take in new experiences, without judgment or criticism. Buddhist practice calls this a beginner’s mind. Life often requires us to process information and immediately react — driving, working, caring for a family member, for example. However, the inspiration process flourishes with being open to the unknown. Getting into this headspace might mean slowing down, looking out, and resisting the natural inclination to transform experience to judgment.
Shifting into this headspace takes practice, so a little structure helps me. I recently invited my coworkers to go on an “inspiration walkabout.” I asked each person to focus on just ONE element on their walk — one person observing color, another light, and someone else on repeating patterns. This practice helped people narrow their aperture of observation to see new details they hadn’t noticed before. This can be done with any sense — sound, smell, touch, taste: What are all the sounds you hear on your walk? What sensations do you feel? You can change the prompt each time you do this and the world will always look just a little different.
If you aren’t able to move through the physical world, it’s also possible to take the same approach to a beginner’s mind with a “mental walkabout” by giving yourself a prompt for introspection or journaling. You can start with any word — “freedom,” “color” or “soft sounds” for example — and free associate as you write. If you need more ideas to get started, I love the prompts that The Sun magazine uses, of which there are literally hundreds. (You can even submit your reflection if you are feeling bold.) Wherever you start, giving yourself dedicated space to see the hidden details around (and within) us can create more space to feel inspired in the first place.
MOVEMENT
Embrace creative momentum
The “movement” phase is about applying inspiration to your life. Personally, I find this part the hardest and it’s often where I get stuck. I regularly flip back through dozens of half-formed thoughts in my notes, but sometimes struggle to translate disconnected musings into anything that feels worth pursuing. I’ve heard many friends say the same thing — they used to love making music or writing, for example, and now, it keeps getting pushed down the to-do list.
One reason for this could be that our relationship to output is evolving — with an emerging rebellion against the productivity trap⁴ (in essence, summarized as pressure to be productive all the time), whereas for some of us, we’re simply just exhausted. Paradoxically, small bursts of creativity can shake us out of that fatigued mental state. It’s a positive feedback cycle — creating something helps you feel better, and when you feel better, it’s easier to be inspired. But just how do you get into that state if you are having trouble getting started in the first place? And moreover, how can we put less pressure on ourselves, with orientation on the output and more on process?
One way to approach this is by embracing creative momentum. Creative momentum simply means taking something that sparks inspiration (such as an image, a song, a conversation, or a thought) and reserving just a few minutes to translate it into something tangible. Choose a format that works for you — jotting it down, recording a voice note, sketching, making something physical — whatever is going to have the least friction or inertia for how you naturally express yourself; the medium is less important than the time and space to capture.
Early in my career I had a great mentor who encouraged me to talk out loud about my ideas and he would take notes for me. After just a few minutes, the hard part was over — the momentum was there and there were words on paper! Enlisting a friend in this way can help channel your inspiration into something real. You can talk it through while someone captures (like I did!), make something together, or share a goal with others, which also provides built-in support throughout the process. Even teaching a topic that inspires you can help you gain perspective on your own approach. However this comes to life for you, creating just a little space and structure for getting ideas out of your head and into the world can make the muse feel more consistent and ongoing.
YOU
Look inward to find inspiration
Most importantly, at the center of inspiration is you. While this may sound simplistic, being inspired can be hard if you don’t feel like you yourself are inspiring. The concept of “narrative identity⁵” highlights that the way you talk about yourself, in essence, informs how you see yourself, and therefore where you may tend to focus your time in the future.
A simple example of this is if you say, “I’m a runner” as opposed to “I run,” running is innate to how you perceive yourself and you are likely to be more confident in your pursuit of this interest. Same goes for the inverse. If you say, “I’m not a good cook” or “I’m not creative,” there’s a higher likelihood that you won’t try a new recipe or pick up a sketchbook anytime soon. Taking time to recognize what you love — and claiming those things as part of who you are — can build confidence and give you a greater chance of applying them to your life.
An exercise I had my coworkers do is gather five objects or artifacts that tell a story about them and share the significance of these objects. When I went through this practice myself, I was shocked that three of my objects (watercolors, a race medal and a journal) represented interests I hadn’t given much of my time to in the past year — art, running and writing.
By taking inventory of what lights us up and brings joy, we can create more intention around where our focus goes each day. While this process can be structured or more of a personal reflection, thinking of yourself as the proverbial “home” of the inspiration you consume and create gives you agency and ownership to do more of it and most importantly, see yourself as inspiring.
Parting thoughts
Just like breathing, each of us has the capacity to let inspiration move through us every day if we give it a little air. With a bit of awareness, intention and ongoing practice, the muse can feel less like a flash that appears from time to time if you’re able to capture her, and more like an ongoing, steady glow that lives within each of us.
¹ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, National Institute of Mental Health , 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US, 2021.
² Future Forum, Future Forum Pulse Wave 9, global, conducted Nov 16–Dec 22, 2022.
³ How Much Time Americans Spend In Front Of Screens Will Terrify You, Nicole F. Roberts, Forbes, US, published Jan 24, 2019.
⁴ How to escape the ‘productivity trap’, David Robson, BBC Worklife, UK, published August 10, 2021.
⁵ Narrative Identity”, Dan P McAdams and Kate C. McLean. Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 22, no. 3, pages 233–38, US, June 2013.
