Motivation vs. Hunger (Part II) - Inspiration

So after a couple of debates with some people about the whole motivation vs. hunger thing (and I’m kinda glad we talked about it), I wanted to bring up another important element and how it affects the first two which is Inspiration. This is the fire that lights up every human, whether it’s in music, painting, pottery, sculpting, writing, acting, directing movies, loving whatever it is. I mean Inspiration is a very crucial element in my opinion, and it has a direct affect on both motivation and hunger.

You may ask how? Well, it’s really very simple. See inspiration triggers emotions or provokes thought within an individual and the energy it creates is delivered into either motivation or hunger. So who cares which outlet it pours into? If inspiration fuels motivation then it’s a short term boost where as if it feeds hunger, it’ll have a longer lasting effect. Very philosophical, I know, don’t ask.

Inspiration is that crucial external element needed when you cannot find a trigger. Everyone has different goals in life and therefore are inspired by different things. Inspiration also brings the elements of motivation and hunger to a much closer alignment. Essentially they become eerily similar to some extent. Let me explain my theory on how inspiration affects the two though.

Inspiration comes from an external event and or action, which triggers a certain emotion within a person. Once this emotion is triggered, depending on the velocity it’ll either fuel motivation or hunger. Now, sometimes people are inspired however they may not act upon that emotion, which essentially it trickles down into the subconscious part of your hunger and it starts to build. The more a person is inspired and doesn’t act upon it, the more it builds up in your subconscious, and then gradually, one day a person will blow up.

I can testify to this myself. This IS essentially what started my rapping career. After 17 years of watching my people continuously get oppressed, slaughtered and occupied, I had a build up of not revenge or anger, but resentment that innocents were getting killed and nobody was saying anything. So that inspiration of 17 years fed my hunger which exploded into motivation to write a song called Talia. This song is about a little Palestinian girl’s life that had lost everything due to the illegal occupation. Anyhow, so this is my explanation of how untapped inspiration feeds into hunger which directly correlates with motivation.

Now when you get inspired and you automatically act upon it, that inspiration trickles to motivation. I can’t think of a good example, but let’s say a girl is in an abusive relationship with a guy. She knows it’s wrong and knows that she’s got to get out of it, but she fears that she can’t due to her dude’s abusive nature. She’ll bump into somebody who tells her an inspirational story which is similar to hers and how we she got out of it. This story can do one of two things. It can either inspire her to be motivated and get out of the relationshit she’s in right now, or she will listen to it, wish she could do the same, which essentially sits in her subconscious – hunger.

Now, here’s the thing: if inspiration motivates you to do something about a concept you are relatively fresh to or uneducated about, then it will be short-lived. If you see a movie like “Trade” which is about human/sex trade and what not, you maybe motivated to make sure that doesn’t happen in your neighborhood. You may become active about it, but it will be short lived if you don’t have the proper foundation and or knowledge about the issue. That’s why, whenever I watch a documentary or a mind-gripping movie I tend to do research and see if it’s a topic I can potentially feel passionate about. It’s never too late to develop and or adopt a passion; no matter how old you are (that’s the tip of the day for you).

Many will argue the above paragraph and say that sometimes they are inspired to act upon something right away. I will not argue against that, however if your motivation is fueled from hunger, which is fueled from inspiring moments that have occurred over a period of time, your actions and your “explosion” will be much more deep rooted. Therefore you will constantly do whatever it is you are doing, be it music, activism, nymphomania, etc.

Let’s face it, deep-rooted actions such as fighting a revolution, boycotting a product, voluntary vegetarians, or psycho girls trying to get revenge on their ex, although you might fail, you will most probably continue to pursue that goal because it affects you from the heart and its something you strongly believe in. It’s part of you. Now for all the ladies out there that want to get revenge on your ex…Really? Just be the bigger person (maybe that was a bad example…ha)

At the end of the day, inspiration comes in different shapes, forms and velocities. I believe the best way to absorb inspiration, although it’s very hard to channel because it has an emotional impact on us, is study it properly. Whether you act upon your inspiration immediately or you leave it dormant in your soul, if you truly believe in it, you can maximize the potential of inspiration.