On Inspiration by Wislawa Szymborska

By Rajesh Setty on Tue 01 Jul 2008, 7:13 PM – 1 Comment

This is an excerpt from the Nobel Prize lecture of poet Wislawa Szymborska. The topic is Inspiration.

I’ve mentioned inspiration. Contemporary poets answer evasively when asked what it is, and if it actually exists. It’s not that they’ve never known the blessing of this inner impulse. It’s just not easy to explain something to someone else that you don’t understand yourself.

When I’m asked about this on occasion, I hedge the question too. But my answer is this: inspiration is not the exclusive privilege of poets or artists generally. There is, has been, and will always be a certain group of people whom inspiration visits. It’s made up of all those who’ve consciously chosen their calling and do their job with love and imagination. It may include doctors, teachers, gardeners — and I could list a hundred more professions. Their work becomes one continuous adventure as long as they manage to keep discovering new challenges in it. Difficulties and setbacks never quell their curiosity. A swarm of new questions emerges from every problem they solve. Whatever inspiration is, it’s born from a continuous “I don’t know.”

Note: This is courtesy of my friend Neil Wadhawan at Heartwood Studios. I totally enjoyed it and I got Neil’s permission to share this with all of you.

Related Articles:

• Philosophy, Wisdom and Inspiration – Cool link
• Inspiration Arrival: Viktor Prochaska interviews me for his blog – Part 2
• Inspiration Arrival: Viktor Prochaska interviews me for his blog – Part 3 and Part 4
• Book recommendations and power of questions

Posted in the Main Page category.

If you enjoyed this article, Get Life Beyond Code delivered by email or subscribe using your Feed Reader and RSS