Definition or (What Happens When the Soul is Inspired)

Rain, Earl Grey, Pink Floyd, an empty page.  And here I sit, trying to conjure the equation that turns those things into an inspired piece of writing.  I've noticed a pattern lately.  I do my best writing when the skies are gray, when the leaves have changed, or during a good song.  Looking back through old journals, all the best tidbits are dated in the fall, and some of my favorite pieces were written about rain or music. 

And so I begin to wonder what happens to a soul when this thing we call "inspiration" takes place.  How do I begin to define the word?  Is it an inner feeling caused by an outer idea, or does the feeling change the way we percieve those ideas?  Does the mind just wake up one morning and tell the soul to be inspired and subsequently, we view the world through artistic eyes?  Or is it the art in the world that invokes inspiration to the heart and soul?  I can ask these questions all day long and never really get an answer because in what I believe to be the truth, the word "inspiration" means something different to everyone. 

But to me, inspiration is found in the bottom of a teacup that's empty but not yet cooled.  Or the crevice of cells in a leaf that has just begun to change color.  Or the tiny splashes that falling raindrops make as they collide with the rippled surface of a rising river.  Inspiration is the what that Gilmour guitar solo sounds like singing through my record player.  It's the quiet swish of slippered feet dancing across a stage.  It's how I can't help but pull my car over when certain songs come on the radio for fear of losing them to the static that may exist over the crest of the next hill.

So I'll ask a question for you to consider for today: what does "inspiration" mean to you?  How do you define what moves your soul to the point of becoming compelled to think on a higher level, to create something great, to leave your comfort zone and exist in a world, real or metaphorical, that you'd previously been to afraid to enter?  Brew some tea and think about it.  And if you want, tell me what you come up with.  I'd love to know too.