A friend asked me,"How's your inspiration these days?" I laughed and replied, "She is a fickle muse. I find, I must rely more on discipline to coax her from hiding."
So often while drafting this WIP (plotted mostly with a dash of pantsing curiosity when the characters have a mind of their own!) I have written myself into a corner or found myself unsure of what's next. In those instances I invite inspiration to meet me in my practices, most often on the yoga mat or in meditation.
While in class this past weekend, the instructor spoke of a topic that is a recurrent theme in my WIP.
That you are not, and have never been alone.
To hold a vision it takes more than just you, more than your effort. Bringing a vision to fruition on the page or in real life requires teachers, family - found or by blood - friends, colleagues, and even our adversaries and obstacles to challenge, forge, hold space for, and support what lies in the heart.
As I listened to his wise words in child's pose, something shifted within. I moved into my first downward dog, then to plank position, the light above casting me in shadow, a perfect silhouette dancing through each asana. The outline of my form, a Peter Pan of sorts, calling forth my inner child to come out and play.
You see, I was a dancer once. It was a space in which I felt most truly alive in my skin beyond the confines of words in full body feeling. A place where I was moved by spirit. I smiled as I moved from downward dog, through my first vinyasa, dancing with my shadow, moving through places in my body where joy and pain lodged itself deep in my bones. Yoga is the closest I come to dancing these days. With each round of movement, I felt something unspoken, unspool.
Awareness. Creativity. Forgiveness. Peace.
I thought about all the people who have held my vision, even when I couldn't for myself. It was at those times when I was dancing with my shadow, learning how to embrace and integrate the subterranean aspects of myself that only darkness can shed light on.
Movement made way for inspiration to arrive a share this secret with me.
There on my yoga mat, I called back the parts of myself I'd been afraid to see, afraid to feel, all because someone held a vision for me.
Without discipline, I might not have shown up.
I might have missed the opportunity to discover the quiet places where I've made the most growth.
Inspiration and discipline are partners in a dance, one giving way to the other when it is needed most. So, I'll volley the question for your consideration, "How's your inspiration these days?"
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