FULL INTENSITY INSPIRATION

“…and thus, the native hue of resolution

is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,

and enterprises of great pith and moment

with this regard their currents turn awry

and lose the name of action.”

- William Shakespeare, Hamlet: Act 3, Scene 1

(Forgetting, for a moment, the context of these lines...)

What an appropriate thought for the beginning of a New Year! I wish everyone the best for this coming year, with especially, the courage to ride the current of our inspiration 'till we manifest it!

Being primarily a visual artist, I find a beautiful metaphor in Shakespeare’s thought here. He likens resolution (or inspiration) to the intensity of a deep, rich, vibrant color. Then, he suggests that thinking too much about a resolution (or inspiration) will dim its intensity and brilliance. Picture what a dense fog does to brilliant colors: this is what he meant by a "pale cast." In fog, all the intensity is lost and you have soft, diluted, weak colors.

Inspiration can easily become a fragile and tenuous thing. Weakened in any way, it will not yield us the purest creative expression we seek to manifest. We need to guard our inspiration carefully, from our own and others' distractions. We need to treat our inspiration with respect, as the truly valuable entity it is. We need to focus clearly on it and if necessary, sequester ourselves until we have visualized it thoroughly, and at its fullest intensity. Then that inspiration can illuminate us and our world through our art.