Inspiration

I have been short of motivation recently. Haven't posted, haven't drawn, and haven't really played Go, either. The plus side of this is being more able to concentrate on school, but even there I am lacking that certain motivation to concentrate and stay on top of the work. Recently I've had some epiphanies that I think might help me break my current mold I have been stuck in.

1. Inspiration can be found.
Inspiration isn't just a feeling that comes and goes. It can be found by immersing yourself in different things, be it music, television, movies, games, etc. Don't rely on chance to set your mood. Back when I was still working my way through Hikaru No Go, I was consistently inspired to play more Go just by getting caught up in the show. Then when I finished with the show, I needed new sources of inspiration, which brings me to my next epiphany.

2. Keep things fresh.
The inspiration you can gleam from something will wear off or end, so be constantly immersing yourself in new things. . Sticking with the Go example, I have been trying to think of new things to gleam some motivation from. One source of motivation came to me purely on luck. An Oklahoma Go player that is always trying to get players together for meetings recently moved extremely close to my campus, solving my problem of not having any way to play Go on a real board. As for other sources of inspiration, I have recently been interested in getting some non-study material Go literature. More specifically "The Master of Go" by Yasanuri Kawabata.

3. Once you're inspired, act!
This is a mistake I used to make all the time. That is to say, I would find something to be euphorically inspiring, and then just enjoy the euphoria without putting that positive energy to any use. It's too easy to just ride on the waves of emotion and then lay dormant on the beach once they have passed. I believe this might even be the hardest step of them all. At some point you should stop watching Hikaru No Go episodes one after the other, and use that growing feeling of inspiration inside you to play a couple games. Perhaps something you watched or read has made you think. This is a form of inspiration that you can turn into action in a different way by writing down your ideas. Ideas becomes a sort of internal source of inspiration, and if you don't write them down, it will be that much harder to turn them into action later.

These things might not seem all that surprising or new to you, but for me personally I feel that these three ideas will push me forward by leaps and bounds. It's started to pull me out of my slump, at the very least, and hopefully it will push me even further.