Like Oxygen to a Writer

I can sometimes generate ideas for my writing by reading a favorite book that left an impression on me in the past, or by reading something never read before that may spark new ways of thinking, or by simply sitting in my favorite chair with my eyes closed and letting my mind run free until it finds something I can use. Other times, I turn outward. There are several authors and publishers that I follow on Twitter, or whose blogs I read, and they provide endless support to novices like me and are always shedding new light on the writing process. I could spend hours (and have) reading back through their archives for nuggets of wisdom on getting past writing obstacles. The LDBF is a great source of encouragement and thought-provoking conversation as well. These are my most oft-used sources of inspiration.

But then there are days. You know the ones. The days when it seems like your brain has been completely emptied of all contents and none of your stand-by idea generators are working. Feeling the desire to write and being bone-dry of ideas or mental energy is a horrible feeling. At its least severe, you feel as though your arms are tied behind your back. On the worst days, it can feel like the air around you is being sucked away and you cannot breathe. Your chest aches, your head pounds and the world begins to go dark. And, you feel as though your arms are tied behind your back.

Inspiration, defined by Dictionary.com, is an inspiring or animating action or influence; something inspired; a result of inspired activity; a thing or person that inspires. That is all well and good, and probably what we most often think of when we think of inspiration, but I like the alternative meaning provided below all that, which is, the drawing of air into the lungs; inhalation. 

Exactly.