Sometimes, when my head is racing with thoughts, I wonder—keeping a healthy distance from myself and what I’m doing—is this inspiration? Is it an epiphany? Or maybe even enlightenment? I know my return to spiritual searching was the result of a deep personal crisis, something psychology describes perfectly well, but that’s not what I’m talking about today. It’s about something else. It’s about that moment when ideas just come on their own.
What is Inspiration?
Concepts like “inspiration,” “epiphany,” or “enlightenment” carry huge weight in different cultures and religions. In Christianity, inspiration is often linked to the work of the Holy Spirit. In Buddhism, enlightenment (nirvana) is the ultimate liberation from suffering. In Hinduism, it’s the experience of unity with the divine. These are big words, carrying centuries of tradition and deep mysticism behind them.
That’s exactly why I’m afraid to use them. I don’t want what I’m doing to be seen as a lack of humility. I don’t want to put myself in the role of someone who has experienced a mystical revelation. My experiences are much more down-to-earth.
My Experience – Peace in Everyday Life
I’ve asked God many times, searched for answers in my soul: am I going in the right direction? Does what I’m doing make sense? Sometimes, when I had doubts or lost my drive, it was enough just to return to mindfulness. I focused on simple household chores: making meals for the kids, doing laundry, cleaning, spending time with them. And right then, in that simplicity, a flood of thoughts would suddenly appear. Sometimes it wasn’t just an idea for a new article, but practically the whole outline, the backbone of it. I would quickly type everything into the computer.
Of course, it wasn’t like ready-made quotes from the Quran, the Bible, or the Rigveda—which I don’t know by heart anyway—just popped into my head. What appeared were reflections, questions, and personal thoughts. Only later did the time come for research, looking for different points of view, quotes, and contexts that deepened the initial thought. If fragments of scriptures I’d never read suddenly appeared in my head, maybe I’d be inclined to believe in supernatural inspiration.
But even then, would I share it? Wouldn’t the content I’m conveying be more important than the fact of where it came from? It seems to me that talking about “divine inspiration” could make the text less credible. People are often skeptical of such declarations coming from ordinary people. It’s different when a great spiritual authority talks about it.
How Religions View Inspiration
Different spiritual traditions approach the topic of inspiration with caution.
In Christianity, inspiration is a gift, but it requires discernment. Not every strong thought or emotion comes from God. The Catholic Church teaches that true inspiration leads to goodness, love, and truth, and its fruits should align with the Gospel.
In Islam, true revelation (wahy) was reserved for prophets, but believers can experience inner guidance (ilham) through prayer and reflection. The key is that any such thought must align with the teachings of the Quran.
In Judaism, wisdom and intuition can come from God, but true inspiration always leads to doing good and keeping the commandments.
In Buddhism, enlightenment isn’t a sudden gift, but the result of years of practice, meditation, and mindfulness. It’s a state you work for, not one you receive.
What connects these perspectives is humility. Inspiration is never a reason for pride, but an invitation to serve and share wisdom.
Values as the Foundation of Creativity
For me, the indicator of whether I’m going in the right direction is the inner peace I feel when preparing new posts. I feel that everything I write flows straight from the heart. That lack of fatigue when creating content, that sense that I’m doing something good—that’s my compass. Even if no one read what I write, the searching, writing, and expanding my knowledge brings immense value to my life on its own.
There’s no hiding that the crisis was the spark. If my wife hadn’t left, this blog wouldn’t exist. I wouldn’t have had the time for it, because just like before, I would have been focused on her emotions, her needs, and her path, which often distracted me. The crisis forced me to look deep inside myself and find something that is mine alone.
I felt inspired in a literary sense, creative in a psychological sense. I don’t know where I found so much time to convey so much, given all the responsibilities that come with taking care of children on my own. But I know one thing: it wasn’t a mystical experience. It was the result of work, mindfulness, and honesty with myself. Maybe that’s what true inspiration is all about—not waiting for a voice from the sky, but listening to the voice of your own heart, soul, or simply yourself. Which is exactly what I wish for you.
If my writing has inspired or helped you, I would be grateful for your support.
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AI Disclosure
I see my thoughts as the essence, much like the soul, and AI helps me give them form. It supports me with research, translation, and organizing ideas, but every perspective is my own. Curious how I use AI? Read more here.
