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One percent inspiration?

That old saying can't keep you from thinking creatively.

From the April 2001 issue of The Christian Science Journal


You've probably heard the saying that creativity is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. My own participation in the performing arts has shown me that this maxim sometimes seems very valid! However, the notion that only a small part of our creative efforts may eventually be rewarded can be quite discouraging. It assumes that creative processes are always a struggle—a mere function of physics—and that somehow we have to inject a bit of spirit into our projects (at least one percent) to give them life.

But these assumptions are based on the premise that we are subject to limitations everywhere we turn. That we are made of limited matter. That we have limited imaginations. That we have limited endurance. That we are limited to life in and of matter. Sometimes, the only thing that seems unlimited is the number of limits we encounter!

Inspiration doesn't have to be fenced in, though. Brain cells don't define or confine creativity or intelligence. The question is, Are we cut off from God, our creator? Or are we the very outcome of infinite Spirit, of limitless divine Mind? It appears that we're mortals, restricted and subject to struggle. But if God is our creator—and He is—this view is a deception, and we don't have to be limited by it. God is our actual source. He determines who we really are. And He defines our nature spiritual, not material. He tells us that we each have the ability to be inspired, because we reflect His unending intelligence and creativity. It may take some hard work—some perspiration—to recognize these facts. But actually, being inspired is as natural as breathing.

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