inspire

Forms of Creative Inspiration

There is an old adage that states: "Necessity is the mother of invention." For those of you who have ever used a common object to fix an uncommon problem, you know that this is true. In this context, there are many things which inspire creative acts. Inspiration is an important part of the creative process. Here are some of the documented historical examples of sources of inspiration.

1. Triggers and flashes: Nature is often a primary source for creative production, as are common things that surround our lives -- A sunset, a mountain, a verse of a song, a certain phrase, a child's smile.

2. Obvious connections: Buckminster Fuller discovered that the triangle was the basis of the geodesic dome.

3. Visions and voices : Harriet Beecher Stowe saw Uncle Tom in an ice cube. The medieval prioress, Hildegard von Bingen had visions that led to her music and writing.

4. Dreams and drugs: Mary Shelley dreamed Frankenstein, Kuekle dreamed a snake biting its tail which lead him to envision the benzene ring.

5. Reflections on death: Tennyson's elegy for a friend became the poem in Memoriam.

6. Being in love; being out of love; tormented by rejected love: The Taj Mahal was a tribute to a beloved wife. Love poems and songs, and fond memories of love have inspired poets and song writers for ages. And where would country music be without all those "cheatin' hearts?"

7. Following trains of thought: Rorschach invented the ink-blot test as members of a poetry group composed poems in accordance with what ink-blots suggested to them.

8. Suggestions: Seeds of ideas come from the suggestions of others, piggybacking off others' ideas.

9. Plain old thievery: Velcro was invented when George de Mestral was trying to remove burrs from his hunting clothes.

10. Fakes, mistakes, and accidents: Ivory soap was a mistake as a worker accidentally left on the soap beater, and POST-IT notes were conceptualized from a bad glue formula.

11. Desperation: Mike Nesbitt's (of the Monkeys) Mother developed "White-Out" in her garage using her kid's poster paints. She was a divorcee with three children to support. She had gotten a job in a typing pool, but she was a terrible typist. She was afraid she was going to get fired, so she developed a way to conceal her mistakes.

To do: Take a long look around you for unusual sources of inspiration. Make students and children aware of different motivational sources of creative acts, and invite their stories about being inspired. And begin filling their lives, and your own, with inspirational moments -- walks in nature, music, poetry, art, as well as stories, books, and meetings with creative people.

Forms of Creative Inspiration

1. Triggers and flashes: Nature is often a primary source for creative production, as are common things that surround our lives -- A sunset, a mountain, a verse of a song, a certain phrase, a child's smile.

2. Obvious connections: Buckminster Fuller discovered that the triangle was the basis of the geodesic dome.

3. Visions and voices : Harriet Beecher Stowe saw Uncle Tom in an ice cube. The medieval prioress, Hildegard von Bingen had visions that led to her music and writing.

4. Dreams and drugs: Mary Shelley dreamed Frankenstein, Kuekle dreamed a snake biting its tail which lead him to envision the benzene ring.

5. Reflections on death: Tennyson's elegy for a friend became the poem in Memoriam.

6. Being in love; being out of love; tormented by rejected love: The Taj Mahal was a tribute to a beloved wife. Love poems and songs, and fond memories of love have inspired poets and song writers for ages. And where would country music be without all those "cheatin' hearts?"

7. Following trains of thought: Rorschach invented the ink-blot test as members of a poetry group composed poems in accordance with what ink-blots suggested to them.

8. Suggestions: Seeds of ideas come from the suggestions of others, piggybacking off others' ideas.

9. Plain old thievery: Velcro was invented when George de Mestral was trying to remove burrs from his hunting clothes.

10. Fakes, mistakes, and accidents: Ivory soap was a mistake as a worker accidentally left on the soap beater, and POST-IT notes were conceptualized from a bad glue formula.