Inspiration: It can open up dreams long forgotten, plans long abandoned, a desire to follow your heart in ways you’ve scarcely imagined. It is impossible to be inspired and feel depressed simultaneously. It is impossible to be inspired and feel unmotivated. It is impossible to be inspired and not feel a sense of purpose. Just think, if we could all be inspired a little every day, how the world would be changed! How would your job be different? How would your health be different? How would your creativity be expressed differently?

It’s easy in today’s fast-paced lifestyle to forget about our creative side, or take the time to get inspired. But unless we can be inspired, aren’t we just going through the motions of life without true feeling–without passion? Inspiration doesn’t mean escape from the “real world” and our responsibilities. It means breathing new life into them. When you feel inspired you still have the same laundry, dirty dishes and bills to pay–but you are able to breeze through them with a sense of joy and ease. As the artist of your own life, the first step is to figure out what inspires you. The second is to actually make room for these inspiring things regularly. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• When is the last time you did anything just for yourself? Do it now.

• If it’s been so long you can’t even remember what you like to do, sit and make a list of all the things you have done that bring you comfort and renewal.

• Think about your most inspiring moments in the past–what was involved? Music? Nature? Dancing? Singing? Recreate those things.

• Get in touch with the little girl/boy inside. Remember back to being a child and what some of your favorite things were. Do some of them again.

• Ignore the inner critic (which I call your Gremlin) who tells you that you are wasting your time, or it’s stupid, or you should be doing something more constructive. Do it anyway.

Your challenge is to find your own personal inspiration and experience it in some way every day. Notice how this personal connection inspires you to create what you love in your life and to express in some form the inspiration you have experienced.