The art of inspiration midwifery is a turning point for this blog, not lengthy, but with profound significance.
Turning Inward for Construction#
Recently (March 2022), the pandemic has been quite severe. We have also discovered positive cases nearby. Schools have been closed. A few days ago, when confirmed cases were first found, the market could originally sell two to three hundred (in revenue), but that day it suddenly sold over seven hundred (in revenue). (Later, everything was sold out, with two thousand in revenue.) So everyone can see that this wave of the pandemic is indeed quite serious. Coupled with the recent wars and economic issues, the old folks in the village are saying the world is coming to an end. The online world is also in chaos. Various conflicts are truly frightening. I have been attacked all day long. So I will avoid discussing politics, adopting an ostrich policy. Otherwise, if disaster hasn't come yet, going crazy first would be a loss.
That said, your political stance does not represent your other aspects. Buddha helps those with affinity, and other deities also assist those with their own connections, so I won't humiliate myself by meddling in these matters. Regardless of whether the world ends, my world will definitely end. So before my world ends in this life, I will continue to play in the mud and dream! As long as my world does not perish, I will dream every day. The great and just task of making the world better can be set aside for now.
See: “How to Treat Politics” Issue
Emerging from the Political Dark Forest xlog telegraph
Political Black Forest xlog telegraph
Methods for Increasing Writing Output#
So I want to try something new, what should I try?
Certainly, I want to try writing more, to have more spring dreams. Transforming from a hen that lays eggs once a month to one that lays several times a week. I don't really like reprinting; my own writing may be terrible, but at least I won't despise it. At least what I produce has independent intellectual property rights.
So what hormones should I take to lay so many eggs in a week?
Socratic Midwifery#
Isn't Socrates known for his midwifery? A ruthless debate technique that makes people uncomfortable, also known as the Socratic method.
When Socrates talked, debated, or discussed issues with others, he often adopted a special form. Unlike other wise men who claimed to be knowledgeable, he said he knew nothing and understood nothing about any issue, so he had to ask others for help. But when others answered his questions, Socrates would refute their answers, leaving them in contradictions. Finally, through inspiration, he would lead others to express Socrates' viewpoints—Baidu Encyclopedia on Midwifery
I understand it as throwing out bricks to attract jade. Regardless of how Socrates said it, let's see how to increase output.
The Drawbacks of Writing Driven by Inspiration#
Inspiration is the soul of writing, but a soul without logical navigation is merely a wandering ghost, scattered soldiers, or a runaway horse.
The Unpredictability of Inspiration#
Everything I write is based on feelings, which are the most unpredictable. However, this strong urge to write something, occurring once a month, is considered quite frequent. If I want to write several pieces a week, I need to engage the logical thinking part.
The Ambiguity of Recorded Inspiration#
In life, there are often many feelings I want to capture, but those feelings are fleeting. I generally record them for preservation. Due to their brevity and abstraction, they often cannot be formed into coherent writing. This causes me great pain. The feelings I originally recorded become incomprehensible after a few days, and I can't recall them.
Writing Driven by Logic#
So this time, I aim to midwife feelings. To extract the subtle feelings using logic.
I find that pulling out what’s inside me indeed enhances my understanding of myself and the world. It's like having many vague crushes; you always miss the chance to pursue them. Now, we need to catch up with them and engage in some deep communication.
But as Edison said, that 1% of inspiration is crucial; inspiration and logic intertwine to facilitate smooth production. Each of us is different, so we should supplement what we lack. If we lack logic, we focus on the structure of the article, etc.; if we lack inspiration, we should pay more attention to the feelings that arise when we encounter new things.
The Journey of Inspiration#
The art of inspiration midwifery is not a mechanical increase in output, but rather adheres to the objective laws of mature thought. And midwifery, using the production of babies as an analogy, is appropriate and vivid.
The union of male and female is miraculous. This is equivalent to the impulse that stimulates the generation of inspiration. Then, the sperm and egg combine to form a fertilized egg, which is even more miraculous. Inspiration is born at this moment. The most important part of the sperm and egg is the DNA information they carry. These two pieces of information, after countless years, meet again, colliding with their understandings accumulated over millennia. This is also the birth of inspiration. There is fundamentally no newness; "the Dao produces one, one produces two," ultimately, they share the same origin.
Then comes gestation. Inspiration needs flesh and blood to grow. Without the nutrients essential for the fetus, inspiration cannot develop into a fetus, let alone midwifery. Just like an apple tree, having pollinated flowers is far from enough; it also needs to absorb the essence of heaven and earth, gradually maturing over time before it can be harvested. Inspiration cannot appear just once; the same inspiration lies dormant in the brain, absorbing surrounding information, and during this process, it gradually copulates with more information, allowing it to burst forth.
Midwifery is merely a method of ripening and harvesting apples, but ultimately, it is about allowing the apples to receive sufficient light and nutrients. For inspiration, this means absorbing as much similar information as possible. Then we use logic to pull them out one by one, like pulling radishes. If the radish is not yet mature, pulling it out is also premature.
After pulling out the radishes, the article is formed. But the article is lifeless; the stories and thoughts within it are not. What we deliver is a living being, not a dead object. Just like human metabolism. The British journal Nature Medicine published a study from Israel that found the human body's cell renewal rate is astonishing, replacing about 33 billion cells daily, with an average of over 3.8 million new cells produced every second. What dies is what can die, while what lives is the living being. The form of the article, whether one more word or one less, or even a complete overhaul, is not important. As long as the thoughts and structure have been transcended, it is rebirth. In other words, the articles we write through the art of inspiration midwifery are lifeless, but what they carry is constantly renewing. It similarly, like a fetus, continuously receives nourishment from the mother. After the article is born, its mother is no longer limited to the author's perspective.
An article may seem finished, dead, but in reality, it is also the rebirth of another article. Their cores are the same; who dies and who lives, why rush to harm each other? As Nietzsche said, "My time has not yet come. Some are born after they die." The inspiration of the article may also be born after the article dies.
Postscript on the Art of Inspiration Midwifery#
The pandemic has ended, but the economic recession is even more severe, and the clouds of war are thickening.
Today, writing about the value and methods of reading reminded me that one should record inspiration while reading, leading me to think of this piece. Two years later, it can be said that the art of inspiration midwifery has triumphed; most of the articles on this blog have since adopted this method, and I am satisfied with this approach. It should be reset and shared with everyone.
The original text is on telegraph titled "New Attempts," renamed "The Art of Inspiration Midwifery" on 2024-10-17.