From the Unconscious to the Conscious 



An artist is quite aware whether he is inspired or not. 

 If he is, the work proceeds easily, almost without check, 

 to his complete satisfaction or even exultation. If he 

 is not, he experiences fatigue not only of mind, but of 

 body also; he makes constant false starts, and his 

 wearisome and painful efforts are accompanied with a 

 sense of powerlessness and discouragement. Inspiration 

 does not come from effort; on the contrary, it comes 

 often when least expected, and especially when the mind 

 is at ease; not during the times of connected work. 



There are writers and artists who always keep a 

 notebook handy in order to note down whatever the 

 caprice of inspiration may whisper, some verses to a 

 poet; a philosophic point to a thinker; the solution of 

 some problem vainly attempted, to a man of science; 

 a happy phrase to a literary man, etc., etc. Thus they 

 keep on the watch for the beneficent action of inspiration ; 

 in the study, or during a walk; alone or in a crowd; in 

 bed, or in the train which takes them on a journey; in 

 the carriage on the way to business; in the midst of 

 some social reunion; in the course of some common- 

 place conversation to which they are barely listening 

 and answering by monosyllables ; sometimes in conscious 

 dreams. 



In the most remarkable cases of subconscious 

 collaboration, it seems that the work consciously begun 

 is elaborated little by little in the subconsciousness, with 

 a definite plan, with all its divisions and details, till it 

 reaches completion. But these divisions and details 

 come only by degrees and not in a regular order and 

 sequence. It is only when the work is far advanced 

 that the plan and the arrangement of its parts appear. 

 The action resembles putting together a kind of sub- 

 conscious puzzle, and the artist or the writer (and it is 

 more especially to writers that we refer) has to make an 

 effort to allocate correctly the pages or the phrases 

 which have been subconsciously inspired. 



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