Does inspiration become commonplace?

[Magicman]

The nature as inspiration thread fired up memories of visits to inspirational locals that quickly become commonplace.

We owned condos in Florida and loved the beach. A favorite local was the public beach at Cape Canaveral. White sands flowed beyond the eye's limit. The waves are sizeable enough to give a thrill, yet gentle enough that my wife will go in the water. Enormous cruise ships leave the harbor with regularity, mere seconds dash to stand on the edge of the channel and wave at the ants on the upper deck. The first three or four times there were inspirational. We took pictures and relayed our experiences to anyone that would listen. The next three or four visits, our focus shifted to the landscaping and the people on the beach. After that, it was just another day out in mother nature.

We live near Niagara Falls, an awe inspiring wonder of mother nature. While dinning, we mentioned the falls to our server. To our surprise, she was born and lived her twenty odd years minutes away from the falls and had never been. After dozens of trips, we no longer stop to view the falls. Why do we go? The area has some of the best dining experiences in Ontario and the drive on the back roads is inspiring.

For that matter, many inspiring locals we have visited are simply a nuisance to the locals.

Do you find inspiration fades much to quickly?

 

[Emily]

I spent this evening thinking about that thread too! I write and paint and sculpt and they are all inextricably linked even though sometimes I don't realise quite how much; and it can be often years after I make one piece that I see the imprint in my writing or my writing imprinting the art. All my work tends to be based on the landscape in the micro and macro, and I like to keep returning to the same places over and over... so inspiration doesn't tend to fade for me. But having said that, I'm garnering nature inspiration from the forest at the end of our garden or the beach we go back to every year and using and reusing information in different disciplines so I can probably squeeze out inspiring-value-for-money a bit more

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Living in Cornwall, I'm used to seeing beautiful sights. About 27% of the county has been deemed an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. I don't take it for granted, though, feeling blessed to be surrounded by vistas that really haven't changed much in centuries.

What I do instead, is to use the landscape, including the geology, as a character in my crime novels. Most people think that they can take care of themselves in the wilds, for, after all, this is an unthreatening country—officially, there are no predatory mammals, such as bears, wolves and mountain lions and there's only one species of poisonous snake, whose venom is about as powerful as a bee sting. But, what if you were lost on Bodmin Moor in the dark or in a thick fog, with no sign of lights to guide you...and there was a serial killer around, or maybe the Beast of Bodmin—a mountain lion or a lynx?

Famously, getting lost on the moor, while out horse-riding, inspired Daphne Du Maurier to write Jamaica Inn:

Daphne Du Maurier Cornwall | Memorial Room | Jamaica Inn

Beautiful places are always dangerous!

 

[Magicman]

Paul,

Ah, I see the context of "inspirational" in your thread.

I saw "inspirational" as that moment - the view draws the breath in to trap it forever - the eyes dart to capture the image in it's entirety - the mouth babbles sounds in frequencies reserved for moments like this.

I agree, even when the inspirational becomes commonplace it can still inspire.

Bob

 

[Amber]

The nature as inspiration thread fired up memories of visits to inspirational locals that quickly become commonplace.

We owned condos in Florida and loved the beach. A favorite local was the public beach at Cape Canaveral. White sands flowed beyond the eye's limit. The waves are sizeable enough to give a thrill, yet gentle enough that my wife will go in the water. Enormous cruise ships leave the harbor with regularity, mere seconds dash to stand on the edge of the channel and wave at the ants on the upper deck. The first three or four times there were inspirational. We took pictures and relayed our experiences to anyone that would listen. The next three or four visits, our focus shifted to the landscaping and the people on the beach. After that, it was just another day out in mother nature.

We live near Niagara Falls, an awe inspiring wonder of mother nature. While dinning, we mentioned the falls to our server. To our surprise, she was born and lived her twenty odd years minutes away from the falls and had never been. After dozens of trips, we no longer stop to view the falls. Why do we go? The area has some of the best dining experiences in Ontario and the drive on the back roads is inspiring.

For that matter, many inspiring locals we have visited are simply a nuisance to the locals.

Do you find inspiration fades much to quickly?

This made me think of how when I was a kid, in California, I didn't understand why we even needed a weatherman. There was only an earthquake every now and then.

Also, it never occurred to me that there were people who never saw snow, never saw the beach, never went to the mountains, and never saw the desert. I mean, couldn't they just go? In California, all of those things are a short drive away.

Also ... Disneyland which wasn't my favorite place on earth ... I never saw why it was so great. But then, never occurred to me that there were people who couldn't go a few times a year.

...and is Hollywood really a big deal? That sign is ugly.

These were my thoughts as a kid.

 

[AliG]

I think the spark of inspiration can still come from the everyday. I try to make a point of appreciating my surroundings, but suspect I fail and should do so more. Travel helps to give new scenes as well as to appreciate your own nesting place.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I'm a close observer of nature, and in my 48 years, have never yet stepped out my door without seeing something new and inspiring. For me, the popular inspirational spots are great, but they're only a small piece of what I find inspiring. I'm just as inspired by the slime moulds in the lawn as I am by a breathtaking view.

I'm always surprised to find people who've grown up in Christchurch who don't recognise the name of the lake just south of the city. Fifth largest in the country, home to 90% of the nation's bird species, site of a commercial fishing industry, incredibly important to the cultural history of the area, internationally recognised as a natural and cultural heritage area, and the subject of huge volatile debates over management. But mention the lake to the average Christchurch resident, and they say, "What lake?"

 

[Emily]

I taught painting for years and I would often paint a demonstration piece of somewhere local. Once I was painting a sunset and had the colours stretched across the sky as per the photograph I was using as inspiration and one of my students (a woman in her seventies) asked: "Why are you putting all the purple and orange colours in the sky?" It took me a few seconds before I could answer her, I was so shocked. She had never, in her seventy+ years, noticed a sunset. It had never occurred to her to look up or out at the sky. I felt grieved for her lifetime of missed sunsets! After that, in every class, she would tell me about the sunsets she had been enjoying during the week. It still astounds me she never noticed!

At another demo, I dotted the roadside of the painting I was making with purple-y pink wildflower, wild willowherb. The following week a woman said to me that for the first time in her life she had noticed the wildflowers at the side of the roads after wondering why I was painting flowers on the painting like I had. Another: "Arghhhhh, a lifetime of visual pleasure unnoticed" moment!!

It's incredible how little people observe in their day to day lives...

 

[Paul Whybrow]

The lack of curiosity about life that many people have worries me. Focusing just on what's in front of you is essential if you're disarming an unexploded bomb, but these days many are in thrall to their smartphones—believing the opinions that are spouted out, without bothering to check if what's being said is actually factual.

There's such a thing as Inattention Blindness, which was proven by a famous experiment involving basketball players and a man in a gorilla suit:

Didn't spot the dancing gorilla in famous YouTube video? | Daily Mail Online

I think that creative folk are more observant than most people. We writers catch the sparks we notice in a jar, to turn into flames in our stories. I've always taken time out, from whatever I've been doing, to watch nature and to appreciate a fine view.

I cleave to what Harry Emerson Fosdick said about the wonder of being alive: