Getting Inspired ala Taylor Swift

I never thought this day would come. And no, I can’t say I know any of her songs! Ms Swift however has a reputation of using every break-up as fodder for her next song. I bet she secretly works towards a break-up.

Why am I bringing this up? I seem to be most “inspired” when my heart is troubled and no, it’s not necessarily a break-up or unrequited love. Just everyday scenarios where I catch myself being bothered by something. Life experiences have a way of making you either more savvy or more despondent. The littlest things that irk me now gets the third-degree inquiry by me.

I sometimes use this method as a coping mechanism. You’ve heard of the 5 whys? For example, why am I feeling this way? I am jealous. Why am I jealous? I feel I’m not good enough. Why am I not good enough? I am not as young/old/thin/fat/pretty/smart/innocent/confident. Why do you feel you are not as young/old/thin/fat/smart/innocent/confident? Well, the other woman is the opposite so she’s better…you get where I’m going with this?

Get as granular with yourself as possible. At this point, you come to some distinctions about why you’re feeling the way you’re feeling. All feelings are valid. The question I ask myself after the many whys is why it matters and what can I do about it? A lot of people feel the answers are out there when really it’s within.

I’ve given one scenario here. Apply this to every scenario and get real with yourself. You will find yourself jumping into similiar situations with different faces the next time if you don’t get real with yourself and you wonder why history keeps repeating itself. I have done this exercise countless times and in the process looked at my insecurities squarely in the face. Yes, we all have them.

Most times I can’t change the scenario or the person but what I can do is look at ways to make the scenario better and change my view and attitude of the situation. Sometimes I don’t have the answers immediately and it’s ok. I meditate on this by reading books for ideas, the Bible for wisdom and sometimes I just exercise and not think about it. My other avenue is journaling which has also been a great way to release your thoughts. You can be as brutal with everything and everyone there 🙂

Well, I call it journaling but Taylor Swift calls it her next hit.