Be Inspired. Mindfully.

"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds. Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you every dreamed yourself to be."

-Patanjali, the founding father of Yoga

Every time I read this quote, a joyful little chill goes through me. I thank Patanjali for this beautiful wisdom, but experience tells me to be inspired with the awareness of not becoming attached to the inspiration or to the amazing things which may follow such moments. Authentic, genuine inspiration is easily identifiable: you know it when it hits as clearly as you know you're alive and walking the Earth. There's no reasoning with it, no questioning of it, no bargaining, and no denying. And it's rare. So when it happens to you, grab hold of it and just let it take you where it needs to take you. But... be mindful of not becoming attached to the inspiration itself or to the exciting roads it leads you down. Know that the inspiration and the ensuing enthusiasm will almost certainly dwindle or fade completely if we become needy of it or clingy. I think as artists, when we say we suffer from 'artist blocks' or 'writers blocks' what we are actually suffering from is our attachment to our creativity. And on days when creativity takes a hike and doesn't show up for us, we feel let down, betrayed by it even. It was our attachment to it that caused the disappointment.

What do you think of this quote? What do you think of the idea of our attachment to our creativity being the possible source of unhappiness? Can we be mindfully attached? I'm looking forward to your comments!