65. Question: If we would like to write poetry but we lose our inspiration, how can we regain that inspiration? Should we just force it?

Sri Chinmoy: If you try to force it, there will be a yawning gulf between your first line and your second line. The first line will be filled with light and the second line will be as prosaic as possible. If you try to force inspiration to come to you, it will bring you nothing. Just wait for inspiration. Some people write one line, and then they have to wait for ten days or even two years for the next line. In your case, since you are a seeker, you don’t have to wait for two years. Vivekananda used to say that if you cannot drink the purest distilled water or Ganges water, that does not mean that you have to drink water from the street. No, you know that it would make you ill. Here also, if you cannot get the highest inspiration or cannot maintain it after one line, the best thing is not to write any more. If you aspire the next day or the day after, in a few days you will get more inspiration. Do not try to finish the poem right then and there. Otherwise, you will end up with one diamond and the rest will just be pieces of an earthen pot. That will be most deplorable. If you want to offer something to the world, you have to try to keep the same standard.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Poetry: My Rainbow-Heart-Dreams, Perfection-Glory Press, Augsburg., 1993
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/prh