A Gift of the Spirit

You know how you learned in grade school that the preferred definition of a word is the one given first in the dictionary. I started thinking about this instruction--which as I recall I learned in the fourth grade from the inestimable but fierce Mrs. Ellsinore Davis--in regards to one of my favorite words in the English language, inspiration.

However, as most of us learn in our journey through life, much--if not most--of what we learned in school is not applicable to the real world. Thus, the The American Heritage Dictionary defines inspiration first as "stimulation of the mind or emotions to a high level of activity."

Sounds like the writer had just got out of a college class on B.F. Skinner's psychological "Behaviorialism."

To be perfectly biased and subjective, I prefer the last definitions suggested by the good lexicographers. The penultimate one is:

Divine guidance or influence exerted directly on the mind and soul of humankind.

However, the last definition, the act of drawing in, especially the inhalation of air into the lungs reflects the original derivation from the Latin word, inspirare, "to breathe on; to breathe life into."

In this regard, note that the word, spirit, itself, derives from the same Latin root. No wonder so many spiritual paths (and modern psychology) emphasize the importance of breath work.

As a writer, I struggle constantly with that need for inspiration-or as many of us who had literary pretensions during youth put it so ever so quaintly-the muse. Without that fountainhead, my writing is as lifeless as a dried out tea bag or as useless to others as yesterday's coffee grounds (Yes, the truth is out: I drink a lot of tea and coffee when I am writing, probably too much.)

That old definition of inspire, To breathe life into, is archaic only if you are a lexicographer. If, as a writer (or any artist), your creations are going to reach out and touch someone or at least give you personally that feeling that your story or article is refined from your own experience and stamped with your own unique brand of originality, you must draw from some source outside of your own narrow point of view.

Somehow your characters or creations must breathe.

Writing has taught me at least a few things about inspiration. For example, I have found out the hard way--with lots of wasted hours staring at blank pieces of paper or empty views of Microsoft Word--that inspiration goes hand in hand with action.

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