What is life, if not inspired ?

[m1469]

I have been thinking... last night I felt in crisis of some sort, and I have been recognizing a seeming trend in my thought since as long as I can remember.  I am looking for something... something big.  Yes, there will be tendencies from some people on this forum to respond with comments about finding God and so on... whatever your thoughts regarding that are, feel free to express them, but please don't treat me as though I have not found God.  You don't really know.  See if you can direct those thoughts toward something other than my conversion.

So, I asked myself "what am I looking for ?"  -- LOL.... I realized that actually, I have been spending a good portion of my life trying to discern what exactly I am looking for.  In a sense, I am searching for what it is that I am searching for... hehe.

Well, that was an eye opener.  But as soon as I realized that, and came to grips with what I was actually looking for (which was to discern what it is that I am looking for), I realized what it is that I am looking for in life.  I am looking for inspiration.  And actually, I see that this very thing is what I have been looking for my entire life, within every nook and cranny I can find.... and sometimes I look for new nooks and crannies, but all for the purpose of finding inspiration.

Inspiration about music and art, but more deeply, inspiration about life and living.  I have realized that this is the most important thing to me, it is my sense of "gold".  For me, without inspiration, life is not worth living. 

Hence my initial question : "what is life, if not inspired ?"  And while that question is perhaps philosophical, I also wonder on a practical level, what is it, if it is not inspired ?

As a side note, I have realized that music is important to me because it demands that I am honest with myself.   It forms a language and avenue for expressing my search for inspiration, which I have undergone for my entire life.   It is, at this point in my life, the most complete representation of my relationship with myself, and with Life in its entirety (as far as I can comprehend (and probably even further than that, too)).  I have other interests, and perhaps other "talents" (whatever the *** that is), but nothing demands from me what music does.  And I guess I thrive on that.

I am interested in your thoughts on my original question. 

Love,
m1469

[prometheus]

I think that, even if you believe in god, you should look for a secular way to give purpose to your life. God does not present how you should spend your life on a 'silver plate'. We have free will, wenether god exists or not. So if god exists than she has given us this choice, or problem of oxymoronic proportions, that we are supposed to make for ourselves.

God does not enforce anything on us so we are responsible for our own lives. We may be judged on our choice by god after we die. So we just have to live with this strange property of being conscious of our own consciousness and the fact that we have to find our own purpose.


In my experience you shouldn't search for anything. You should try to find out how one should interpret, or take life. Don't try to find something that does not exist, whatever it may be. Try to perceive life in all its spectrum and all of its dynamics.

[tds]

four thingsm1469needs and wants, whether she knows it or not:

1. God
2. True love
3. To be inspired
4. To be inspiring

[pianistimo]

i tend to agree with all the above posts.  i try to think back to when i was around 8 years old and realize that the core of 'who you are' is kind of realized by that age even.  i already LOVED music and art.  especially art and maybe at that point even over music.  but, i also loved to read and would read a lot. 

if you go back to those points in your life that you adored (having time to just do what you want) and make time in your week to do at least one of those things -practice piano, paint, read, draw, - for me - you'll find the inspiration to do those drugy things like pay the bills.

every 10 years or so i get to a point where i think - 'i need a vacation.'  of course, it is usually when there isn't money to take one and where i am needed nonstop for the next month anyway.  it is then that the idea of a catatonic state becomes ideal instead of energy bursting out of me to do the rest of the stuff that has to be done.  how does one escape the beginnings of a catatonic state?  i don't know.  exercise has worked in the past.  if you find yourself not blinking - it might be a sign of stress.

[lilypiano]

I don't know if this relates exactly to what you're saying...
but anyway
Have you ever seen Adaptation?  The woman in that had an obsession with obsession.  She was obsessed with the guy obsessed with orchids, and felt that she didn't have a passion of her own.  She wasn't inspired to her satisfaction.  I felt that way for a little while.  I liked this guy that was really into movies and history, and I sort of felt that i wasn't passionate enough about anything.    I was still playing piano alot at the time(my freshman year), just not taking lessons.  i think i wasn't confident that piano was an actual interest or something I could be good at since all i did was improvise and mess around. 

[pantonality]

m1469,

First let me say I admire your intellectual honesty. To be able to discern that what you seek is first the question rather than an answer indicates an uncommon degree of wisdom. And isn't it amazing that the answer to your question once discerned was almost immediate.

Inspiration is a wonderful thing to seek. In fact Wayne Dyer's latest book is titled Inspiration, you ultimate calling. Sounds like you might find it interesting reading.

Coincidentally, I found this in my email today from a group in India. I hope you find it inspiring reading.

If you believe, you will never know. If you really want to know, don't
believe. That does not mean to disbelieve, because disbelief is another kind
of belief. Don't believe, but experiment. Go into it yourself, and if you
can see, if you can feel, only then believe. But then it is no more belief;
then it is trust. That is the difference between trust and belief: trust
comes out of experience; belief is just a prejudice without any experience
to support it.

Don't believe because scriptures say so, and don't believe because
respectable people say so, because they may be saying it only because by
saying it they become respectable. Don't believe because priests say so,
because priests are just doing a kind of business. They have to say so; they
are salesmen. They are selling some invisible commodity, which you cannot
see but you have to believe.

Experiment; go into the existential experience of it all. Become a lab -
your own lab. And unless it has become your own understanding, don't
believe. Unless it has become your own understanding, don't believe, and
then only can you come to trust. Truth believed is a lie. Truth experienced
is a totally different phenomenon. This is the approach of a scientific
mind.


Blessings,

Steve

[Bob]

I think a lot of life is just tedious and boring.  (work)  Not so much full of straight inspiration as having moments of inspiration here and there.



(Bob gets cryptic just for fun.)

"It's the question which drives us..."

"It's the question that brought you here."

"... no one could be told the answer to that question.  That they had to see it, to believe it."




"There is no escaping reason, no denying purpose -- because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist...
"It is purpose that created us,
"Purpose that pulls us,
"That guides us,
"That drives us,
"It is purpose that defines,
"Purpose that binds us."
"We're here because of... Purpose."
(I don't see what dolphins have to do with anything.)

[m1469]

Thanks for all of your responses.  Actually, they are each quite meaningful (deep, and inspiring) to me.

And isn't it amazing that the answer to your question once discerned was almost immediate.

Yes, it is quite interesting.  What I also found to be interesting is that once I found the answer, I found the actual thing, too.  Once I realized I was looking for inspiration, I was inspired and have been in a new way since.  My overall attitude about life took a new turn... and I always enjoy that  .

Next quest : Discerning what true inspiration is --- for me, and its underlying source.


Thanks again,
m1469

[donjuan]

bit embarrased to bring this up again, but here's my hippy thread I started nearly 2 years ago, that sort of applies to this:

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,4471.0.html

I wanted to get inspiration from hearing other people's stories, rather than music.  I used to think that by doing so, I could vicariously live many people's lives and come out of it with a lot of knowledge. (This reminds me of that 'Star Trek: the next generation' epicsode called "The Inner Light" -the only episode I watch over and over again-,because it is about Cpt. Picard living another life -a WHOLE other life, like for what seems to be 60 years- all in a dream while unconscious in his real life for only 20 minutes)

My point of view has changed quite a bit since making that thread.  But what I learned from making such a thread is that it is impossible to ask religious people to talk about life without them bringing in religion.  You just can't.

[m1469]

But what I learned from making such a thread is that it is impossible to ask religious people to talk about life without them bringing in religion.  You just can't.

Thanks for bringing that thread in, donjuan.   As far as the religious stuff goes, it is not that I wish to have people not talk about religion, I just don't wish to be treated as though I need to be converted.  I would think there is more to a person's religious beliefs than stating things for the purpose of converting... perhaps there is mere personal practice ?  That's all.  I only bring this up because I assume you have mentioned that because of my request at the beginning of this thread.


m1469