I consider myself a pretty random person and believe that inspiration can come from the unlikeliest of places. Maybe from a visit back to the neighborhood where I was raised. Perhaps the way light reflects off that special someone’s eyes during a long walk. Or maybe the spark of passion in a kid’s expression of how much he or she loves marshmallows. You know what kid? I love marshmallows, too.
I think of inspiration just as I do trouble, if you go looking for it, you will surely find it. I have realized that even in the most mundane of daily tasks there lies the potential for all kinds of inspiration and life affirming moments.
So does everyone want to be inspired? I mean how many of us actually wake up in the morning and say “I wonder what will inspire me today?” Do we seek to be inspired at all or just because? Or do we seek inspiration when we feel that our lives lack something. I would argue that inspiration does not have to be a desirable thing. We can be inspired both when we want to and at the least expected of times. However when it comes to finding your way in life, inspiration acts as an integral part of fulfilling your passion(s), whether you seek to be inspired or not.
Psychology Today defines motivation as the desire to do something. It is to my understanding that motivation can be a crucial component in attaining goals. Typically, there’s a lot of “measuring” that happens in the realm of motivation. Maybe it’s just me but I feel like motivation is often associated with fitness these days. People are motivating themselves and others to get fit and adapt nutritious lifestyles more than ever and there is nothing wrong with that. Maybe these individuals have been motivated to meet specific health goals such as shed a couple of pounds or limit sugar intake. Whatever the case these things can be measured. I mean it could be genuine or just the “cool” thing to do now but I have never seen more detox drink collages and work out selfies in all my life just saying!
So when it comes down to it, in order to better understand the two, I had to ask myself two questions; When am I inspired and when am I most motivated? I discovered a few things in my answering. I found that both inspiration and motivation come from within. No one can motivate you more than you can.
Inspiration starts deep within your soul, you may be inspired by something or someone on the outside but it occurs on the inside. In most cases you are able to explain what motivates you but sometimes inspiration may have no reasoning or you just may not be able to put it into words. Inspiration is that tingly feeling you get when observing events. It’s motivation that pushes you to start a new project or completing old ones.
Inspiration is that magnetic force of possibility, it pulls and motivation is that call to action, it pushes. Motivation is what gets you going and inspiration explains how you got there in the first place. Rarely does one exist without the other. However if they do, it just isn’t the same as when they are together.
Vincent Regner Struan is a Kailua-Kona resident