Inspiration – where do you find your muse?

I went for a walk yesterday afternoon, chatting to myself as usual, pondering what I could write about for my first blog post. For the first half of my trek I battled with my logical mind trying to find an idea that would be ‘interesting and worthwhile’.

I often walk when I’m stuck for inspiration. And I usually get some at about the same tree along my path. What is it about this tree that starts off the magical process? Is the tree particularly special in that it inspires me? Well, yes I guess it could be. Several trees have been attributed special status in the past for bringing enlightening ideas. Probably the most famous is the Bodhi tree that Buddha was said to have been sitting contemplating under when he was enlightened.

Maybe there are special energies along the track where the tree grows? Equally possible. Again we know from historic records that certain places were considered by our ancestors to have been imbued with a special power. The Pythia in Greece is possibly the best known where, sitting on her three legged stool over a crevice in the ground, the priestess would bring forth inspiration by way of a fume induced trance.

The Native American people know the power of being in nature. They literary go out and sit in the landscape to seek inspiration and guidance when they embark on a Vision Quest. And the Australian aborigines of course have their own walk-about.

But for the cynical of you out there, maybe you could say I had just walked long enough and far enough to empty my chattering monkey mind and in the quiet state that followed I heard my true inner voice. Stories abound of people pushing hard for answer to a problem only to find it comes when they reach a point of exhaustion and decide to walk away. Having stepped away they suddenly find the ideas and answers coming in as if on a ‘stream of consciousness’ and often 'all at once', or 'as a whole'. It's as if they had reached a place in time and space where they became at One and everything flowed. To me that place of inspiration, that point of oneness is always found within us. But sometimes we need an ‘outside’ catalyst to realise that. Something that will help us find that special inner place of oneness where the magic happens. Where we find our muse. Yesterday for me that catalyst was a walk with nature. Where will you find your muse today?