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By AEDIN DONNELLY
He comes over unannounced and demands I let him in. He sweettalks his way up to my room and we find ourselves deep in conversation, debating, bouncing off one another for hours before we sleep. But even when we lie down, he won’t let me sleep. He keeps whispering in my ear – whispering incredible stories, insightful thoughts, inspirational theories. I wake up the next morning excited and comforted, until I discover that he is gone, and I realise that I can’t remember any of his stories, any of his theories, any of his ground-breaking discoveries.

 An hour later, I get into the shower and start to wash. He bursts through the door, shouting, excited, and every time this happens I wonder, where did he come from?

Inspiration is a strange thing. Filmmakers are constantly battling between a lack of inspiration, and having too many ideas. We cannot force ourselves to be inspired, yet we cannot help but try. We go for a walk, research an idea, talk to muse, but at the end of the day, it is often the unexpected things which throw inspiration our way. Once we stop trying to find it, inspiration finds us again.

Once we are inspired, we are left with choices, responsibilities, obligations. When this amazing thing chooses to come to a filmmaker, it is impossible to deny its growth and development.

Inspiration is incredible because it sparks motivation. It creates hope and excitement, emotion and art. Filmmakers recognise inspiration when they see it, they interpret it as an artist would, and they make something inspiring out of it.  Perhaps that is the most wonderful thing about inspiration – that it is passed on from person to person, to film, to work of art. Inspiration creates inspirational art – art that touches its audience in a way that makes them want to do, to see, to experience. Grab inspiration when you come across it, because the only thing more fulfilling than being inspired, is using that inspiration to create something inspiring in itself.

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