I wanted to share some thoughts on inspiration chanced upon by reading “Trespass” by John Clare 1793-1864. The poem is charged with great emotion and bristles with curiosity whilst exploring vividly thoughts on ownership and freedom. The culmination focuses on the line “Having naught, I never feel alone” and turns the poem on it’s head in just a few words. John Clare, it appears, didn’t feel liberated by ownership, rather he was alienated by the judgement of those who were owners to the extent where he instead chose self sufficiency in his own poetic world. I think I understand this in so far that several times a day I walk in the open as empty as I can, inviting something inspirational to come to me. I assume no ownership of the woodland which is the source of my inspiration, beyond nominally owning it legally. In truth, though I am nothing more or less than the guardian of this source of my inspiration, it is temporarily mine certainly not permanently mine and from a position of receiving free flowing inspiration it’s better that I inhabit it with nothing in my mind at all, e.g “having naught” and therefore never “feeling alone”, because if I’m lucky, I’ll be in the company of inspiration.

John Clare wrote, among other things, about the things around him and being immersed in them. I can’t speak highly enough when contemplating creativity to start with nothing before opening the door, you’ll soon be in good company with whatever is around you.

“Trespass” is available to read via a simple Google search, but Google certainly doesn’t own John Clare.