Inspiration, I think we cannot live without it – not in our personal lives and not in our professional lives. I can speak from experience. There are moments in my life in which I can’t find the inspiration I need to move forward. I feel stuck. What I usually do is start searching for things I can do, visit places which inspire me and surround myself with inspiring people I can talk to. As you can read, for me it is difficult to ‘not-do’, although in the back of my mind I can hear this voice which is telling me to STOP!
To be able to feel which direction you want to go next, you sometimes first need to go downhill – to places you don’t want to be inside yourself. Theory U helped me to understand the Why of this first going downhill and then going uphill process a bit better. In this theory, there are five stages. Imagine them in a U shape, with stage 3 at the foot of the U and stage 1 and 5 as the two top ends. The five stages:
- Co-initiating – Build Common Intent (stop and listen to others and to what life calls you to do)
- Co-sensing – Observe, Observe, Observe (go to the places of most potential and listen with your mind and heart wide open)
- Presencing – Connect to the Source of Inspiration, and Will (go to the place of silence and allow the inner knowing to emerge)
- Co-creating – Prototype the New (in living examples to explore the future by doing)
- Co-evolving – Embody the New in Eco Ecosystems (that facilitate seeing and acting from the whole)
As you can see you first have to pass stages 1 and 2, which involves letting go and observe before you can get to your source of inspiration. So you first have to go downhill to be able to reach this source. After you have reached it, you can get up again! Thanks to your gained inspiration you will feel and know which direction you want to go.
So, if you are in a place right now where you cannot find the inspiration you are longing for, stay there for a while. I know, it sounds like the worst advice ever, but believe me, after you have been there and accepted your situation, eventually inspiration will come and you will be able to move forward in the direction you REALLY want to. Your personal and professional life will flourish again.
For those who are really lost and just need some inspiration right now, I will share some things which inspire me and help me get through my periods on the left side of the u: this honest poem The Invitation, emotional song Lightening, adventurous movie Into the wild, interesting Ted talk The power of vulnerability and last but not least a long walk in the forest.