Writer’s block. Feeling uninspired. Finding your muse. Whatever the guise there are times when all of us pen happy people just refuse to give in to that temptation and calling within to write. We obstinately hold back whatever it is within us waiting to be unleashed like a monster and refuse to let it out. Maybe we’re just afraid to face what is really going on in our heads and hearts. This fact doesn’t only apply to a writer but to anybody and everybody. I think somewhere this is driven by a sense of restlessness and even to some level fear. Fear that we have nothing intelligent to say and fear of the opinion of the outside world. After not having written anything in a while I just realized that these same fears were becoming a driving force within me. Being a passionate member of the artistic fraternity many a times I forget what it was that got me into the realm of art in the first place. For me it was simply being a heart over head person. After having ardently defended the heart over head and encouraging others to use a bit of their heart to guide them all my life I realized I was falling into the trap of just existence and survival…allowing or rather forcing myself to go against my very basic instinct and following the nonsensical ramblings and stern demands of my head. That was it. The first steps towards the destruction of ones creative juices had been taken by me, resulting in many blockages!
Much silent coaxing from my guide, mentor, friend and in some sense
even soul mate forced me to face the prison walls that I had built around my
head and thought processes and wish that I could revisit myself. In
trying to follow our heads over hearts very often we land up losing our
inspiration and consequently ourselves. The heart inspires. Always. The only
way to really live is to be able to look in the mirror and not see a stranger.
Sometimes we just need to revisit that place inside to find our inspiration
again.
As clichéd and over used as this idea might be there is
nothing more true to helping one find that inspiration or their muse again. I’m
talking about love and definitely and singularly not the love that exists in
movies between a man and a woman but love that is much beyond that. Love that
fills you with happiness every time you think of it or feel it and each of us will have a
different way of getting that dose. Some get it from their children and loved
ones, some from things they enjoy doing and obsessive about their camera type
people like me get it from just doing what we love to do whether we do it best
or not.
Sadly everything in our social system forces us to become
somebody we are not and live a life that turns us into robots and robots don’t
feel and robots don’t get inspired. During my moment of intense introspection I
was blessed with the epiphany that I had managed to turn myself into a robot.
Head over heart completely and doing things for the “right” reasons. The
realization came with an intense need to break free and find that looking glass
where I used to see myself.
Reconnecting with oneself is just an act of letting go.
Letting go of fears, letting go of preconceived notions, letting go of mental
barriers and letting go of any negativity in your life. I strongly believe in
surrounding yourself with positivity and letting go of anything negative from
your life no matter what or who that might be. Positivity and revisiting what
you love is the best way to finding your muse. Simply let go for a while of
what your head tells you and listen to that tiny little voice in your heart
before it actually stops speaking to you. Be a child again, do stupid things,
be free and feel alive. The only barriers that exist are the ones that we have built with our own thoughts. Sometimes losing yourself is the only way to finding
yourself.
About the author: Neha Parmar is a wildlife photographer and a conservationist with some tolerable talent for writing. If you liked, connected or have a contrary perspective with anything that you read please feel to share your feedback.
To see more work by Neha
Disclaimer: This article remains copyright of the author and is her individual perspective. If you wish to give any feedback please get in touch with the author.