If you’ve got artistic leanings but are feeling doubtful about starting down that path to personal fulfillment, or if you’re already one of the chosen but are having misgivings about your current practice, then this article is for you.  Hopefully… it will inspire you.

Inspiration.  Ah, to be inspired — to create, to think, to feel.  Inspiration comes in a variety of wrappers and being an artist as I am, I encounter it in a myriad of forms.  I find it in colours and shapes (natural and manmade) and in ideas both intellectual and insane.  But the inspiration that matters the most to me is the one that comes in a lovely little package I like to call, “The Inspirational Quote”.

This form of inspiration doesn’t inform what I’m going to create.  It doesn’t present itself as a physical stimulus.   Rather, it shows up as a mental one, reinforcing a set of personal beliefs and values that tell me I am going to create, and that it’s okay.  Gleaned from music, writing and movies, these are snippets voiced by other artistic personalities that I’ve found beneficial to my own practice, keeping me doing what I love to do especially when I face criticism about my choices.

Artists, and most likely all creative folk, at one time or another have or will face criticism about what they produce or what they have to do to produce it such as living a lifestyle which seems out of sync with what might be deemed as normal. (We could get into a debate about exactly what a normal lifestyle is, but that is a subject for another article).  You may currently find yourself embattled, taking hostile fire that’s shaking your resolve to become or continue being an artist.  If you’re having trouble dealing with criticism, don’t worry, you’re not alone, you’re probably just introverted.

Yes, I said introverted.  I see you shying away, but a lot of artistic individuals tend to be introverted.  Introversion has caught a lot of flack over the years, been branded a dirty word, but don’t be ashamed of being internally focused.  Introversion breeds attention to detail, rigorous internal dialogue, strength of self and independent thought as well as intelligence.   Unfortunately it also has a tendency to leave a lot of us tongue-tied, on the hot-seat as it were looking for the right word or way to defend ourselves when we come under attack by the naïve, ignorant or just plain stupid people of the world.

When I find myself faced with these situations about how I express myself artistically or how I choose to live my life (especially about how I choose to live my life), I turn to the inspirational quotes I have assimilated as part of my personal defense.  They help to re-affirm my stubborn pigheadedness about living my own life my own way, and being honest about who I truly am.  I’d like to share a few of those with you now.  Some of them work together while others stand alone as positive reinforcement for the argument of accepting and being oneself.  Hopefully, a few of them resonate with you too.

Literary Quotes

“It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.” – Mentat Piter De Vries, DUNE

It’s surprising that I’d find an inspirational quote in such an unlikely place.  For those of you who’ve read Frank Herbert’s Dune you’ll know what I’m talking about.  For those of you who haven’t, don’t.  It’s a brutal, loveless book set in a world where kill or be killed is the mantra of just about every race of people.  It’s set in the middle of an intergalactic war where everybody distrusts everybody and, in this arena of doom, death has a frontrow seat.

That being said, the character Piter De Vries makes a very good point.  The human will is very strong.  It’s what gives people strength to continue against insurmountable odds or courage to take the first step on a journey of self discovery.  Before anything can be accomplished, you must be willing to undertake the task.  This is an internal force that can only be set in motion by you.

I love this quote because it basically breaks down as “you are your own master”.  It tells me that I and I alone have the power to decide what’s right for me, that the accountability for my destiny is in my hands and that I don’t need anyone’s permission or approval to make those choices.  External validation be damned.  I’ll validate myself, thank you.

Movie Quotes

“Don’t flee from yourself.  If you have a quality, be proud of it.  Let it define you whatever it is.” – Pinhead, HELLRAISER 3

Again, it’s surprising that I’d find inspiration in such an unlikely place but philosophy is philosophy whether it’s uttered by a doctoral scholar or a soulless, sadomasochistic, knife wielding, bodily modified demon from hell.  Okay, a bit of explanation…

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m an avid movie buff.  I love anything that keeps my imagination alive which is why most of the movies I enjoy are either horror or sci-fi based.  This gives the Hellraiser series of films a lauded position in my movie collection, and I don’t care what the critics say, I love the entire series.

The original movie is based on a story by Clive Barker entitled “The Hellbound Heart” and in general is about a puzzle box which acts as a doorway to hell.  The mythology around the box promises unknown levels of pleasure and pain in equal measure, and when the unwitting owner of the box opens it, demons from hell come and rend them limb from bloody limb.  The opener receives all the pain, the demons all the pleasure.  One can never be too careful when toying with hell.  You’ve been warned.

What makes this quote such a pleasure to hang onto is that it can be filtered down to read, “Don’t be afraid to accept yourself for who you are.”   There’s a necessity for the status quo in society.  People, places or things which are out of the ordinary have a tendency to be shunned, disbelieved or outright attacked.  The virtues of herd-like mentality are instilled in children at an early age.  There’s a certain way to be.  There’s a certain way to feel.  There’s a certain way to think.  Attributes that go against that status quo are discounted as aberrant, not normal and therefore not worthy of praise or acknowledgement which we’re conditioned to quest for.  When I was young, I was drawing werewolves, people possessed by aliens and Ninja Turtles, not flowers or cats or people, etc. If I’d had neurotic parents, I’m sure I would have ended up in sessions with a psychologist.  Thankfully, my parents are cool.

Artists are in the minority.  The qualities we have to embrace to create the work that we do tend to go against the norm.   As open and free as our society claims to be, there is an unwritten code of behaviour and thinking that dominates what is acceptable and what isn’t.  Well, this societal acceptance I speak of comes from outside us, validation from others.  The first quote I mentioned, the one by Mentat Piter De Vries gives freedom from the necessity of this societal validation so forget about what you were taught to seek when you were young.

The quote by Pinhead adds a new dimension to the one by Piter De Vries.  It gives us license to internally accept those qualities that make us who we are, the attributes which have been stunted by grossly ignorant societal attitudes, so we can utilize them to affect a change in our lives towards a positive outcome.  For a long time we’ve been told subtly and bluntly that qualities within ourselves, ones that separate us from the bulk of humanity, ones that may make us “creepy”, “weird” or “a freak” are unacceptable.  Well, Pinhead believes differently, and so do I.  This piece of wisdom speaks about internal validation, about accepting oneself and being comfortable with that acceptance.  Coming to terms with oneself can be one of the hardest tasks to undertake but the rewards of self-acceptance are infinite and you’ll thank yourself again and again and again…

Musical Quotes

“There’s only one way of life, and that’s your own, your own, your own.” – The Levellers, ONE WAY

“You’ve gotta, make your own kind of music, sing your own special song; make your own kind of music, even if nobody else sings along.” – Cass Elliot, MAKE YOUR OWN KIND OF MUSIC

“It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile, be yourself, no matter what they say.” – Sting, ENGLISHMAN IN NEW YORK

“Being free is a tragedy, When you don’t know yourself;
Being free is a tragedy, When you don’t know who you are.” – Powerman 5000, FREE

Most of my inspirational quotes come from the world of music and as the only media set entirely in the world of acoustics, it’s not surprising. (Yes, I realize that you can go out to a concert or watch a music video and see the band or if you’re schmarmy enough you might even get to touch the band, but fundamentally music is auditory).

The great thing about music apart from it being music (I really like music) is that most lyricists are poets too and once you carve away the bubblegum pop and hip hop fluff you can get down and start digging out those inspirational gems that are just waiting to be discovered.  All three quotes listed above extol the same virtue, “Live your own life, your own way and don’t be ashamed about it.”  Are you sensing a theme about the quotes that I find inspirational?

These musical quotes have become so ingrained in my personal mythology that I’ve often fantasized about breaking into song in the face of a derisive critic.  If people think I’m weird now, wait until they see me shoot down what will surely be a bewildered critic by belting out a verse from Mama Cass!

As children we’re taught a way to behave, think and act.  This pedagogical dogma rules us when we’re young.  How are we to know differently?  We’re born as blank tablets with knowledge and ideas impressed upon us like wet clay taking a potter’s marks.  The good thing about growing up is that we can eradicate those marks left on us by others and start making some of our own.  You can only live life in the shadow of other people’s ideals for so long before something’s got to give.  You’ll either explode and kill someone or implode and kill yourself and quite frankly, as far as I’m concerned, there’s no reason for either situation to arise.

I hope you’ve found this article about inspirational quotes helpful.  Everyone is different and they’ll find inspirational quotes in places specific to themselves.  They’re easy to find.  Have a look in a book or put on your favourite album.  Search around and I’m sure you’ll find something that resonates with you.  This is a very easy exercise to start you on the path to personal fulfillment.  Perhaps you already have some inspirational quotes which help you in your life?  Feel free to leave them for others to enjoy.

On that note, let me leave you with one more quote from the great bard himself, William Shakespeare.  This was written around the turn of the 16th century (between 1599 -1601) and the wisdom Shakespeare imparted 400 years ago still holds true today.

“To thine own self be true” – William Shakespeare, HAMLET

For now, that is all. Goodnight.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at 12:38 pm and is filed under Articles, on LIFE . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.