Serendipity: Sprained Ankle Edition

I talked yesterday about how inspiration doesn’t come by waiting; it comes by hard work. Of course, hard work, and continued creative output can’t be the only answers.

I feel I wasn’t clear enough in saying that. Inspiration does seem to come out of nowhere (be it in the shower, while driving, seeing an image, whatever). That does not imply it came by waiting. It’s still derived from hard work (from learning new things, thinking of new ideas, and forming connections between ideas, all of which fester in our head and subconsciously, ever so often popping out as a flash of inspiration). Creative “grunt work” sets the foundation for inspiration.

Inspiration doesn’t have a formula. It comes serendipitously; some of the most important skills are to recognize it, capture it, extend it, and implement it.

Case Study

A few days ago, I tweeted the following (to my following on Twitter, natch).

Perverse style tip: Break an ankle so that you can only wear one pair of shoes, it forces you to be creative!

Now, I did sensationalize a bit; I didn’t actually break my ankle, just sprained it while playing basketball (I’ve noticed an direct relationship between how hard I try and how often I get hurt (but also how well I do)).

Disclaimer: I do not recommend injuring yourself for style purposes.

The point is that an unexpected, arguably negative event (having my ankle crushed) occurred, providing an immediate shift on my world and how my current ideas could or could not be implemented (feel free to extend this metaphor to your life; be it a layoff, a market restructuring, a broken air conditioner, whatever).

One particular consequence of my well-swollen ankle is that I have to wear my white Nike sneakers (since they give the best ankle support when tied tightly) for the foreseeable future. I could have very easily let this style restriction become an excuse to not think about fashion or my appearance for a week. People would have understood.

“Oh, you’re ankle’s hurt? I can see why you’re wearing sweatpants and a baggy sports tee all day.”

Often, people use the unforeseen as an escape route, a free pass for doing hard work (even with things they enjoy, because it’s still hard). Less often, people take the restriction as an opportunity (another piece of wisdom from The War of Art).

For some time, I had seen images of people wearing white sneakers with black denim; as in this photo, but hadn’t tried it (probably out of fear):

Photo by kikfoto on Flickr.

Now I had a great excuse to do something new! And so I have for the last few days, uncovering a new dimension of my personal style and trying several incarnations of it. Pictures are forthcoming, an a few extended ideas that have resulted from this impromptu experiment, once I try a few more configurations. Stay tuned!

The punchline? Use bad luck/bad experiences to your advantage, as opportunities not excuses.

-III