Inspiration generation
I was greatly inspired yesterday as I ran to the tanning salon to see what they charge for a spray tan. First of all, I was inspired not to get a spray tan after getting the answer to my question. (Too much!) Secondly, I was listening to This American Life which is often inspiring in itself. Yesterday, I was listening to their rebroadcast of the BBC documentary on William Burroughs that was narrated by Iggy Pop.
I am woefully unread for someone who calls herself a writer. It’s my problem, and I am working on it. The first step is admitting you have a problem. In spite of my general ignorance on the subject of William Burroughs, I found the documentary to be extremely entertaining and inspiring. I was inspired to read all the great stuff I need to read like Burroughs, Ginsberg, Shakespeare (I wasn’t kidding about the “woefully unread” comment. How I made it through college with a Teaching English degree is a bit of a mystery). I was also inspired to come home and write this great new blog post on my takeaway from the documentary. I didn’t do that though. I waited and allowed the other nine million things that need done in a day to get in the way of sitting down and writing. I kept thinking, “Oh, I need to get that down!” but then I would assure myself that it was such a great idea that it would keep.
I was wrong
I got up this morning only to discover that I was wrong in one of two ways (or maybe both). I could hardly remember what it was that I found so inspiring that I just had to write about it. The documentary, I recalled, was awesome, but my super special spin on it somehow didn’t seem so super special anymore. Perhaps it never was. It was with some considerable effort that I could even recall any of my clever details and insights that yesterday seemed so groundbreaking.
My takeaway
Write it down right away. If I am lucky enough to feel so inspired in any moment, I shouldn’t let it get away. If it’s not important enough to deal with it in the moment, then don’t bother. It probably never was. I guess the story of how the documentary made me recall the time my English professor took me to his office and gave me a copy of Jack Kerouac’s, On The Road, will have to wait for another burst of inspiration.