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This column contains some ideas on inspiration. I want to talk, from a neuropsychological point of view, about how it works, and how to use it for writing.
Inspiration is not a mysterious process. It is a flow of information that arrives in the conscious mind from the other place in the mind, called the unconscious. The unconscious is full of interesting things, but it does not communicate in English. It sends on to you, the wide awake human, material for you to translate into English, or whatever language you choose. That is the job of the writer. Writing is a way of converting something ephemeral into words. It takes the writer’s skill to nudge the insubstantial into coherence.
Writers speak of the process in descriptive terms. For example, In the July 12, 2023 Poetic Outlaws substack, from Charles Bukowski on Writing, the following quote:
“...To me, creation is just a reaction to existence. It’s almost, in a sense, a second look at life. Something happens, then there is a space, then often, if you are a writer, you rework that happening out in words.
It doesn’t change or explain anything but in the trance of writing it down a rather elated feeling occurs, or a warmth, or a healing process, or all three and maybe some more things, depending.
Mostly when I write something that works for me, I get a very high feeling of good luck. And even in purely inventive work, ultra fiction, it is all taken from basic actuality: something you saw, dreamt, thought or should’ve thought. Creation is one hell of a marvelous miracle, as long as it lasts.”
The unconscious mind is a fascinating source. It is full of all the things you know and feel, repackaged, sometimes in profoundly meaningful ways. That sense of deep meaning is the prize. That experience of depth may be referred to as wisdom, insight or hidden knowledge. The search for it underlies all sorts of esoteric, mystical and magical traditions. Finding it is all the same task, done in different ways. I think it is the thing that feeds the creative process.
The problem is that the information your own unconscious feeds you is not in a form you can readily understand. It is not in English, or Spanish, or Mandarin, or whatever you speak in your conscious mind. It is in a different format, but you can unravel it. I am going to run through a how-to lesson at the end of this, but it needs a little background first.
What I have argued in previous columns is that the mind operates in a cycle of information processing that yields, at one point in the cycle, ideas and inspiration. In this column I suggest that accomplished writers have instinctively learned to use this mental cycle to produce ideas and written product. The advice they offer is the advice this neuropsychologist has too, but for different reasons.
The search for inspiration is part of any complex endeavour. It may feel as simple as needing an idea to solve a problem, searching for an answer at a challenging point in life or just the sense that something is missing. It may be a need to express something ineffable in music, sculpture or text. The same impulse is found in the search for a greater sense of meaning. In all cases, what is sought is a translation of something felt to something expressed.
Creative people are not the only ones who seek this wonderful stuff. It is the same impulse played out in the tradition of the search for esoteric, or hidden, knowledge. Dean Radin (Real Magic, 2018) examines the history and cross cultural traditions of esoteric knowledge, more commonly spoken of as magic. In his book Dr. Radin describes the basic conditions of esoteric practices. These include an altered state of consciousness, concentrated visualization, goal oriented imagery, positive expectations, strong belief and intense emotion. The theory goes that in the requisite altered state of conscious, the apparent distinctions between mind and matter are seen as illusions. All is connected. Reality is a set of entangled relationships, free of the constraints of time and space. Theoretically, because there is no separation between self and other objects, it is possible to directly influence the physical world through one’s thoughts alone.
The urge to experience altered consciousness is addressed in Michael Pollan’s How to Change Your Mind (2018). The book gives an overview of the breadth of cultural practices with hallucinogenics. One of the the purposes is to achieve a sense of connection and meaning. Aldous Huxley wrote of opening The Doors of Perception (1954) using hallucinogens on the same theme.
The common elements here are that in states of altered consciousness, whether through esoteric practices or hallucinogens, there is a strong sense of connectedness that is intensely felt but difficult to articulate. These elements of altered consciousness, a sense of connection amongst all things and the magical belief that thoughts alone could have a material effect on the world, reminded me of unconscious information processes.
To recap, I presented an argument in Mind Phases (2022) that there are two mental mechanisms to hold and manage information. The data from the world is perceived and analyzed with conscious cognitive functions. The results of that initial processing are further organized and stored outside of conscious awareness, a state characterized as unconscious. Briefly, the mind processes information in a learning and testing phase, alternating with a memory and consolidation phase. In the consolidation phase, new information becomes integrated, by way of multiple connections, to old learning. A high level of connectivity is the key to the integration and thus memory.
A different kind of consciousness. A sense of connectivity. The neuropsychological processes of how information is acquired and stored in the mind share some interesting similarities with creativity, hallucinogens and esoteric practices.
The esoteric traditions speak to an altered state of consciousness wherein knowledge of the world is to be found. That level of awareness is variously referred to as Gnosis, or deep consciousness. In the psychological and psychiatric terms, there is the concept of a different mental state referred to as unconscious. So, the first common thread is a mental state outside of everyday consciousness.
The second element of similarity is that information is held in this place beyond of consciousness. This is the cognitive function of memory in neuropsychology, and the concept of Gnosis or hidden knowledge in esoteric traditions.
The third element is that the information in memory, the unconscious, or Gnosis, is qualitatively different than that which is held in a fully consciousness state of mind. In the esoteric traditions, the difference between the two states lies in the hidden understanding of connections between all things, or all living things. This concept also shows up in literature on hallucinogenic states, as described by Michael Pollan in Change Your Mind (2018). I have written in Substack (The Language of the Unconscious Mind) and my book Mind Phases (2022) about how memory storage is facilitated with connections, and that the storage process changes the information. It becomes more meaningful.
There is a final consideration. In the esoteric or magical tradition, the hidden knowledge of the connection between all things is said to enable the practicioner to influence events in the real world. There is a parallel in psychiatry. Consider the situation of the child who was angry with a parent that subsequently was injured or died. The child may believe it was their fault, that their thoughts caused the death. The conscious mind may struggle to find a plausible means by which conscious thoughts cause real world effects like death, but the unconscious believes it to be true. It is referred to as magical thinking.
The magical thinking of the unconscious mind, more evident in the child may also be seen in the adult who responds to tragedy by blaming themself. If only I had left sooner, taken another road, if only I had done something different. It is the same concept described in magical invocations, that thoughts can have material effect in the world.
If, which is a big leap I grant you, there is something in this comparison of cultural practice and the cyclical mental processes of information, there might be some parallels between how writers take the practice of writing from looking for an idea to producing text, and other cultural forms of invoking hidden knowledge into conscious awareness.
I am not suggesting you blast the doors of perception off their hinges with a hallucinogen, nor perform ritual and incantation. What I propose is that the writer aim for a steady and workable flow of ideas and inspiration which can be productively tapped. I suggest that the writer can develop a conversation with their unconscious, which is constantly communicating anyway. Like a good friend, be available. Listen to what it says. Put that into words. There’s your source of inspiration.
The advice I distilled from other writers and my own experience, is mostly along the line of keep the flow of information circulating. Like any conversation, there are active and passive elements. Listen, and talk.
The first is common wisdom from writers: Read a lot. This keeps language functions active in your mind.
Have some kind of written product on the go. Exercise your skills. Keep your tools sharp. This is the part of the conversation where you talk.
Show up every day, same time, anywhere that you can. Stephen King (On Writing, 2000) advises that the inspiration will not show up if you don’t either. This is the part where you are present in the conversation.
When an idea comes to you, pay attention. If nothing else, just place it in the notes file, but do not ignore it. This is listening. If you do not take the things offered, you are shutting down communication. Good communication relies on honesty. Stephen King admonishes that at this point, everything you write must be true.
Then take the skills you have and use them to shape these bits and pieces into something. This is your part in talking again. As you do, you will need more guidance, connections and ideas to make it work. If you are showing up and paying attention, they’ll show up. It may happen while you are in the shower, but you still should take the calls when they come. This is the conversation.
I will close with this quote from Elissa Altman, June 6, 2023, on her Substack column Walk Like a Magician:
“There is magic, I suppose, everywhere; writers know this when we’ve been stuck and then suddenly unstuck because we went ahead and wrote the thing that terrorized us, and we managed not to vaporize at our desks. Artists of every stripe know this when they perform, or when they show their work. All humans know it only we don’t actually realize it while it’s happening. Magic is bravery; it’s that moment when you’re completely unsure of yourself and you go ahead and do the life-changing thing — the coming out; the quitting the job; the breaking up with the handsome asshole boyfriend with the anger management problem who everyone thinks is perfect; the quitting drinking — you’re doing it: you’re walking like a magician — on air, on water, through glass, on a tightrope a thousand feet above the ground, juggling flaming stakes without breaking a sweat.”