It’s funny how the mind works. It loves making connections, detecting patterns and creating stories.

It’s the mind that generates inspiration – when the conditions are right. Looking at how we experience inspiration, there seem to be three levels. This brings me to a story of my own.

Recently I converted an old garden shed into a hen house. Most of the time, the project went well but every now and again I got stuck. What I needed then was some inspiration to lead me naturally to an elegant solution.

The technique I used was to form a clear vision of the end result I wanted and then leave the hen house and go and do something entirely different for a while. Meantime my unconscious mind would continue to quietly explore options in the mental background.

Sometime later, maybe while I was in the shower or walking to the post office, I would get that ‘flash of inspiration’ that people speak about – and there would be my answer! This is inspiration at the first level.

When the hen house was finished I was aware of a certain vacuum – I needed a new project. I like to see tangible progress towards a meaningful end. So does most of the human race! A project with a sense of purpose generates its own energy and brings inspiration – the second level. And the greater the purpose, the stronger the energy.

As Patanjali, a wise man from the East, observed several hundred years ago:

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and your discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”

While work on the hen house was still in full swing, I had a day off. It was the most marvellous sunny weather with just a gentle cooling breeze. I went walking in the Severn Valley, just a few miles downstream to where the Industrial Revolution started three centuries ago.

Now the valley is green and tranquil and as I walked by the riverside there were just the birds and a few sheep for company. Ahead I spotted a pair of green woodpeckers, something I had never seen before. A heron beat steadily up river, no doubt looking for a fish snack.

At one point I climbed higher and stopped for a while. In both directions the river, shining in the sun, threaded the trees and pastures. Across the valley the woods stood showing many shades and shapes of green and, almost at my feet, a flight of swallows skimmed the grass. I was overwhelmed with inspiration – the third flavour.

I could feel a deep sense of connection with my beautiful surroundings. I was fully alive, awake to the present moment. My mind wasn’t thinking about the past or the future but tuned in to the ‘here-and-now’.

It is this third level that psychologists call a ‘peak experience’ – and the effects can be long-lasting and life changing. Afterwards somehow we just ‘see’ things differently. I know that the memory will nourish me for years to come.

At this level, inspiration has a spiritual quality. Dr Wayne Dyer points out that the word inspiration includes this dimension as ‘in-spirit-ion’. Literally the word inspire means to ‘breathe life into’ (the opposite of expire!).

As you search for inspiration, you can embrace all three levels. When you are looking for a particular level, now you’ll have a sense of how to create the right conditions.

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