Inspiration: Friend...or foe?

Where does inspiration come from?  I started writing this piece this morning and erased everything I had written.  Mid-way through, I felt as though I lost “it”, and just held down the ‘backspace’ key.  Is inspiration a sudden burst of creative energy that is aching to ooze from our mind?  Or, is inspiration something that sneaks up on us when we least expect it?  At times, our minds can become too clustered with thoughts, that the only way to release them is to put them down on paper, in a manic or organize order.  I have found that inspiration can come from anything and anyone around you.  Sometimes, the best thoughts and ideas are the ones that seem to come out of nowhere, however, somewhere inside, the thought has always been there.  After taking several writing classes in college, I learned that inspiration is all around and if I opened my eyes a little more, I would notice everything that could inspire me.  I found myself wanting to take pictures more when I was outside walking and I often found myself writing extensively about people I had met or scenarios I had found myself in.  Creative writing was one of the best lessons I could have learned while in school.  It allowed my mind to write whatever I had wanted, no matter how crazy the idea may have been.  It let me open my mind to ideas and be as creative as I wanted to be.  As a general practice, when I have the time, I will sit down and write something creative.  I have never been one to write an “outline” for a project that I was working on.  When it comes to writing, I work better by sitting down in front of a keyboard and letting the thoughts spill form my mind and to my fingertips on the keyboard.  So, the question today: What inspires you??