That’s a quip Isaac Morehouse uses to capture the futility of waiting on inspiration before getting started on creative work.
Being inspired is like having friends. If you use it as a prerequisite for doing the stuff you want to do, you’ll constantly miss out on awesome opportunities. If you just say “screw it” and do what you want to do with or without an accomplice, an accomplice will always join you somewhere down the road….after you get started, after you build some momentum on your own.
Chuck Close wrote, “Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work.”
On the surface it sounds like tough love, but it’s really just a simple matter of cause and effect: If you want the muse to whisper her secrets in your ear, you have to flirt with her first. She’s not going to make her move until you make your move. If you want creative ideas to speak to your mind and sing to your heart, then start moving with your feet and working with your hands.
Inspiration is the effect, not the cause, of doing your work.
