The ‘Inspired’ Gremlin:

WHAT GIVES YOU COURAGE?

There is no such thing as inspiration; instead, there are moments of presence that give you the courage to believe. On Tuesday morning, I woke up with this thought.

It came to me as guidance from the dream world, as if to say, ‘Hey, Karimah, inspiration doesn’t just happen to you. Don’t be passive about using me; don’t wait for the right time to find me.’ Inspiration is waiting - it is a future fantasy. True work is courage, a dance between an idea’s frequency and our being’s capacity to embrace it. Courage is presence and action in the now.

I hate being asked the question, “what inspires you?” because it’s hard to answer without going too deep and taking over the conversation or skimming the surface and not doing the topic justice.

There is no such thing as inspiration; instead, there are moments of presence that give you the courage to believe. On Tuesday morning, I woke up with this thought.

I much prefer the question what gives you courage? It’s more generous and tells me much more about someone: their struggles, purpose and taste.

My dreams whispered to me: Don’t wait for inspiration to find you; instead, embrace the prayer ‘use me’. Let it flow through you, cleanse your vessel, and become the conduit for creative energy. As Kahlil Gibran beautifully puts it, “work is love made visible.”

Whether it’s courage or inspiration, both paths point to a moment of awe and lead us back to something greater than ourselves – through nature, humanity, or the divine.

Karimah Xoxo