Inspiration For Writing

By Patricia Gulley

Warning: Rated R for Rant

And I just finished reading an article about how happiness, or even just acting happy, can help you avert heart disease, strokes, hardening of the arteries and a whole slew of problems—so consider reading only if you are not at risk.

This was a tough one for me, especially after reading all 18 blogs prior to mine where everyone said everything I’d ever heard or read and felt was good advice.

So, as I sat ‘a thunkin’ and getting no where on a marketing idea I’d hoped would go through and several other things got stopped in there tracks, I got rather angry. And while I was whining and brooding, and generally feeling the world had it in for me, I realized I beat that invisible horse for several minutes before I began to wind down. A brief look around to be sure no one was in the house (well I sure hope so) to catch me acting like a big baby made me feel a drop better, and I went back and tweaked and rewrote in a better mood, and send the stuff off again.

Then it occurred to me! We need that too. We need to get mad about what we aren’t doing or telling ourselves we can’t do because we aren’t inspired or our spirits are low. If we don’t nip it in the bud, it can lead to the belief that we’ve hit a blank wall and will never have another creative idea.

To quote Lula, “Nuh”. (Stephanie Plum’s sidekick.)

So, how to use a good brood, whine, sulk, annoyance, gripe session, funk, pout, crying jag, and willingness to kick senseless anything that suddenly appears in front of us to our advantage.

Trying to be up and inspired every working minute can be as exhausting as trying to be happy with a smile on our face 24/7. (Well, me anyway, I sometimes brood that there really are people capable of that.)

So let’s try getting good and mad, and think all those evil thoughts we know are lurking in the back of our minds. BRING them forward, curse everyone and anyone, and let the anger flow over us. Bath in the fire of that self-righteous assurance that not only do we have The Right, We Are Right! And they ain’t!

Hold on to it, keep it going, red in the face yet—now let it go. There, didn’t that feel great.

Okay, once the embarrassment and total feeling of acting and/or thinking like a bratty kid washes out, you are going to be surprised how cleansed you feel. Yes, and kind of empty. Which is good because you can fill that emptiness with INSPIRATION! Read those previous 18 blogs and fill up. Now get down to writing.

If you disagree with me, I’ll reply after I finish brooding and ranting.