Random things happen. No one in the world could predict how things happen and when. An old friend texts out of no where, an insight about what to do comes in a strange place, people talk about the same thing in totally different scenarios. All these things come together to make the backdrop called our context. They begin to paint a picture of our lives, full of hope and full of wonder. We are certainly not in control of making the stuff happen, but definitely are in interpreting it.
The creative takes full responsibility to connect the dots of all of life’s random. We are to reconcile things that others assume disconnected. We are to always be on the lookout for meaning, adjusting our pre-conceptions to reality. This constant adjustment to reality is really what being inspired is all about. We are fundamentally open to what the universe has to bring our way. We have no idea what is coming down the pike but we open ourselves to its necessity in our life. Not only in this world the real creative is also open to what is going on in other worlds. Some will certainly not assert or agree that there is a spiritual realm or element to life. Only what is visible, measurable, or in some way quantifiable is real.
This is typically in the current world the domain of science, though we have certainly drawn lines too thick to differentiate. Typically creatives are not gifted as much in this realm of study, measuring and studying what already is. We speak of the language of what can be, what is not yet seen, what could be. These future realities inevitably lead us into other worlds, to other realities. And to be sure, for most creatives there is a spiritual reality to these other worlds.
What is going on in these realities is hard to say. The creative process clearly draws us into something we are not always prepared to deal with. Unusual funks out of nowhere will seem ridiculous to others but we know it as the cauldron of creativity. The creative realizes they are not in charge of the process, nor are they in control of much at all. Their job is to access and interpret the randomness. They need to be fully open and fully aware of whatever is going on around their world. The creative of course mourns in tragedies and celebrates in successes but with a different eye than most. Each event is going into a resource bucket deep inside: metaphors, illustrations, emotions, priceless gifts of each.
This may seem cheap to some. Are we opportunists taking advantage of situations that allow us in? Are we exploiting emotions, using them (and possibly the people that bear them) to find a source of inspiration? No. That is the difference. The real creative does not go seeking through the carnage of human experience to find a quote. He goes in with eyes and heart wide open to feel and to help. Out of the natural experience of that come great insights and ideas into being human.