Maggi Blue: Inspiration for the pragmatic creative
"How do you come up with your ideas? Where do you find the time, the materials, the wherewithal, the courage, the utter unrealistic stupidity to do all this stuff Maggi?" I get that question (or all of 'em at once) all the time. The answer to most are, "Beats the crap out of me." However, I will tackle this one: What does inspiration feel like to me?
Quite honestly, it feels like a pit in my stomach or an itch that will not go away no matter how much work I jam in (like the money making kind) or how many meetings I have committed myself to or how many dinners and bath times and bed times have to fit into my weekly routine. (The kiddo kind - I shower myself just fine).
It's an idea or a process or a medium that I just HAVE to try - and until I do, I can act like I am focusing on life - but in reality, I'm always thinking about when and how I can squirrel enough money and/or time away to dip a toe in and experience it, to scratch that damned relentless itch.
It starts with a Google search gone awry or a book cover that catches my eye as I walk by hello hello (our Rockland independent bookstore) on my way to yet another meeting. The Internet is a rabbit hole that I am always afraid that I will fall into. For example, a search for car tires or birthday party invitations results in researching the endless techniques for X (insert enameling, ceramics, cheese making, soldering, terrariums, metal etching...you get the idea). And there it is. The itch. The stomach pit. The inspiration of a pragmatic creative – a creative who really would just like to feel the enjoyment in getting her work done, pleasing her boss, having an ice cold beer while watching mindless TV – but no. Inspiration doesn't work like that, not mine anyways.
Many feel that just having the inspiration and learning about it is enough to satiate their craving brain. I am not that person. I need to see it realized; made from my own hands in front of me. The itch can only be scratched if I DO it (and as a pragmatist, it must be done successfully...or I will do it and do it and do it until it has been).
I am addicted to that inspiration, but, also in constant fear of it. It can take hold with such veracity that I risk letting things in my life slip...or, what usually happens, I live with the itch for as long as I can, like a good little do-bee. Taking care of my work, my kiddo, my family, my commitments first, until the urge becomes so great that I drop it all... and scratch.
The scratch is amazing and life affirming, glorious in its grace and simplicity - and never the last. There is always another itch. Apparently, inspiration to me is like a case of the chicken pox.
Maggi Blue is a freelance graphic designer, glass artisan and metalsmith in the Midcoast. She is a lover of color, a collector of skills and one badass at dying Easter eggs. Her columns explore what it's like to find the artist within while still making a living in Maine.
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