Inspiration
What is inspiration?
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it is:
a: a divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive and communicate sacred revelation
b: the action or power of moving the intellect or emotions
c: the act of influencing or suggesting opinions
In simple words, in the concept of art, it is something that causes you to have exciting new ideas and makes you want to create something.
I know we can’t be inspired all the time and I have those days more than I would like. With busy day jobs, family and other little things we need to do every day we may not feel like creating or even if we sit down to create not have any ideas.
When this happens to me I have 2 options:
1. do something else
2. look for inspiration
Let me get more into these 2 options.
Do something else!
When I decide to do something else I let my mind and my body to rest. Take a break.
I learned that forcing myself to do something I’m not feeling at that moment never ends well. I get more frustrated with myself for not being able to create, to come up with ideas and get even more unhappy.
On occasions like that, I walk away for a day, two or sometimes even more and focus on other things that make me happy and energize me, and sometimes even spark new ideas.
Here is a short list of the things I do when I feel uninspired:
- I cook a new dish or bake a yummy dessert. Desserts are my weak spot.
- I watch skillshare classes I over 400 skillshare classes on my watch later list.
- Or I watch a random movie I always wanted to see but never got to it
- It may be a surprise to many of you but I get into organizing and decluttering mode a lot when I’m uninspired. Organizing/decluttering is third on my list of favorite things to do after art and pet sitting. I think in my past life I was a professional organizer. The act of organizing and decluttering somehow empties my mind and helps me to reset my mind energizes me and gets me into a creative mood.
- Sometimes I just do nothing, I pick up a book and cuddle with my pup by the window where we look outside and watch passersby walking their pups, or our resident coyote stopping by to say hello.
Look for Inspiration!
When I have a day where I just lack inspiration and I know that I can get my creative juices flowing I reach for my not so secret weapon: My Ideas List which by now it’s pretty long. Most of my ideas are nature inspired mainly plants and animals but there are few unusual things on there as well.
That said these are my favorite ways to find inspiration:
When I have a bit more time and the time of the day is right:
- I love going for photo walks around my neighborhood “hunting” for gorgeous plants, blooming flowers or animals.
- One of my favorite places to go are botanical gardens. Botanical gardens are such amazing places. Each season they have different plants blooming and there are always so many unique plants I would not find in my neighborhood.
- Last but not least is going to the zoo and take in all the animals I already know and find some that I’ve never seen before.
When I don’t have much time or it’s late in the afternoon and it makes no sense to go out anywhere:
- Skillshare is my best friend. With so many amazing classes and class projects it’s hard not to find inspiration. You can get 2 free months of Premium Membership by clicking here
- Pinterest is a great place to find inspiration. Anytime I see something that “sparks joy” I pin it to my inspiration board so when I have a day I need some help all the images I found before are in one place and I always find something that sparks my creative juices flowing.
- Instagram — is a great place to see what is happening in the creative world but in this case, I’m referring to different kinds of art challenges that are hosted by other artists on Instagram. All these challenges have unique prompts and can be such an amazing source of inspiration.
Do you have a strategy or a routine that gets you into creative mood?
