INSPIRATION
What is aesthetic inspiration?
By inspiration is meant that the audience is motivated to mindfulness. Upon hearing a story of bravery the listener might resolve to be equally brave, or at least courageous enough to try. If an example of tolerance is observed, it could inspire observers to practice the same virtue more often themselves. On the darker side, reading about or otherwise learning about an instance of revenge may prompt certain individuals to also attempt revenge in their own circumstances. From life experiences themselves, failures or setbacks could lead some to forego honesty or congeniality and instead inspire them to bloody-mindedness or crime. The notion that inspiration is always positive is just wishful thinking – but for better or worse, it can stimulate thinking and motivate change.
Furthermore, audiences are often inspired in ways that were never intended or anticipated. Efforts to tell a “serious story” may be taken as a joke by the audience. On the other hand, joking may “fall flat” or even arouse outrage. Stories concerning events pertaining to “9/11” often inspire some of the relatives and friends of victims to denounce these offerings as “exploitation.” Other relatives and friends however, welcome such stories as an inspiration to heroism and an attempt at closure. The inspiration that people take may vary from person to person, incident to incident, and time to time – what was once a positive inspiration may later turn into a negative one, or visa-versa. However, to the extent that some incident or art “moves” an audience, some sort of inspiration on the part of at least some of those people is very likely.
How is inspiration used?
Some people use inspiration to “kick-start” an action that was, or might be otherwise delayed. An example of how regular savings eventually leads to a “dream purchase” or to overcoming a setback can be used by audience members to resolve to begin saving regularly themselves. Perhaps they “had always meant to” but somehow just never did – now, with this new inspiration they make the commitment and start to deposit into the savings accounts.
People will sometimes refer others to a story or incident in the hope it will inspire the kind of action (or inaction) they approve of. Recounting action that succeeds implies that anyone else behaving the same way is just as likely to enjoy the same success. Recounting action that fails implies that anyone else with any good sense will avoid that action to avoid failure. Either ploy could disappoint however, because the recipient of the message might not “take the bait,” or the results might not be as anticipated. Inspiration is a tricky business, and trying to influence it has its limits – for the most part, inspiration only supports inclination rather than manipulation.
References
Rosamund Stone Zunder & Benjamin Zander
THE ART OF POSSIBILITY: Transforming Professional and Personal Life
Penguin Books, New York, 2000