Does anyone else get huge aimless bursts of inspiration?

I totally get these as well, it’s usually when I’m in the middle of listening to new music, or having a new experience alone. Luckily, when I get this burst of creativity, I can record myself playing piano to capture the moment. I usually review these recordings later so that I can start building on the motif I started.

I tried writing and drawing but they don’t come as naturally (been playing piano for two decades). I have started getting into creative coding and pairing it with music, though, which has become an interesting output.

I've often related this phenomenon to what Carlos Castaneda calls a shifting of the 'assemblage point'. He has a technical sorcery way of describing it, but basically the whole gestalt of your reality shifts to a different place. Drugs also have this effect.

Anyway, 'when the music stops' you gradually return to your 'everyday' experience of reality and it's hard to relate to what happened. I've become quite adept at shifting this way, sometimes to my detriment. And I have to avoid caffeine and other drugs, because then I become a really intense jerk.

Yeah, this definitely happens to me sometimes, especially when I'm reading. I'll get a sudden flash of inspiration for some story I'd like to write or bits of backstory for a character I feel would be fun to develop, but I rarely end up doing anything about it.

The thing that usually helps me most, when it comes to writing, is to just pull out a notebook and start jotting ideas down and making little sketches. Often, that will be enough of a catalyst to get me to do something more about the little burst of inspiration.

Yep, l write down what comes in and throw it in the pile of unbuilt ideas (a notepad with a ton of ideas).

I'm currently learning metalworking/electronics and other things so l could probably build at least a few of those.

One of the toughest things I encounter in mindfulness meditation is the sudden upwelling of what seem like great ideas, that I'm supposed to just let go of. Returning to focus on the breath is very, very hard when the impulse to scurry off and do something is monkey-chattering away.

It's been a journey to unclench the fear that those inspirations will never return again. But it's the constant sense of hurry and worry which is at the root of blocked energy to act on those inspirations.

I'm now filling a meditation journal. Sometimes I'll look at an idea afterward and realize the emotional response to the inspiration was greater than the good that could come from it, or the energy needed to execute it properly. Others, I've lined up priorities to work on, so that I'm not diluting the results or setting up failures by trying to do everything at once. Most successful artists are better at choosing which inspirations to follow than I've been, and so this is a useful discipline for me to learn.

Happens to me while listening to music. Usually I funnel it into my work, if at all possible. Great for self improvement and motivation!

Happens all the time. I'll write something (usually the start of a screenplay), or attempt to do some coding towards that new social media platform I keep dreaming about, and then suddenly, I will lose inspiration.

Yeah, kinda sucks to be honest. I work at a Call Center, and they allow us some leeway between calls, but there isn't reliable time for me to chip away at creative endeavors due to the nature of the work, so I mostly distract myself with podcasts and news zombing until the next call, then beat myself for all the time I could have been using, ask if I do really want to be a creative, or am I just imaginative and want to have created with none of the work involved, and I cycle and distract myself until work tomorrow.