My Favorite Ways to Spark Inspiration
Inspiration – are we supposed to just sit around and wait for it? Nope! Sure, sometimes you will receive that great idea while you’re lost in your thoughts in the shower (more on this later), but I’ve found that more often than not, we have to seek out, or at a minimum, welcome in inspiration with open arms.
Now, I would argue that even those seemingly spontaneous good ideas we have in the shower happen there for a reason. It’s one of the few times throughout the day that most of us have a quiet, contemplative moment with ourselves. We need time to let our minds wander. We need moments where we can be alone with ourselves, with our thoughts. It seems so simple, but it is becoming so elusive in our modern lives.
Everyone will experience inspiration in their own way – there’s no right or wrong, of course. Sometimes, I just find it impossible to “be creative”. Sometimes I feel bogged down by the weight of just being human. It can be challenging to show up and create every single day, and I’ve had to teach myself that it’s okay to make room for those moments where no matter how hard I try, I just simply won’t create something amazing that day. When I’m feeling like I need to refill my cup, here are some of the things that help me welcome in the muse we call inspiration with wide, open, loving arms.
Getting Outside
When I’m feeling frustrated, anxious, or stressed, the one thing that can always recenter me is a walk outside. Sometimes I have to force myself to lace up my sneakers and walk out the front door, but as soon as I do, I feel joy. And that joy opens my soul up to so much more. I am lucky to live in a part of the country where we are surrounded by lush natural landscapes, but no matter where you live, getting out in the sun, breathing in fresh air, and moving your body can help you reset. Each season has something different to offer – the bright bursts of color as flowers begin to bloom in spring, the warm ombre of spectacular oranges and reds as the leaves transition from summer to autumn, the frost that sparkles all around in winter. Prioritizing time outside observing the world around me has done wonders for my physical and mental health, which in turn has helped me improve my artistic practice in ways I never expected.
A Trip To The Art Museum
I know, this sounds like an obvious one, but I am going to challenge you to a new way of experiencing your local museum. When I was a graduate student, I would research and develop a gallery talk each month at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. One of the things I observed while spending so much time in a museum, is that most people only offer a passing glance at most of the art there. They spend on average about 3 seconds per piece. While some pieces may just not speak to you, I encourage you to slow down and spend some quality time with the work. Look at the different techniques used – how the artist may keep the landscape loose and almost abstract, while the portrait in the foreground is painted with every detail imaginable. Maybe they used an unexpected color – what does that make you feel? How do all of these individual brush strokes come together to create something recognizable? There’s so much magic hidden in every piece – I find it impossible to leave an art museum uninspired.
A Mindfulness Practice
Much like our contemplative moments in the shower, a mindfulness practice can create space for you to quiet the mind from the noise of everyday life, and receive new and inspiring ideas. I am still new to my own practice, and I can already tell it’s not something that will ever be “mastered”, but something to be practiced daily. There’s many different ways to explore this arena, and I currently use the Calm app for some extra guidance. I also highly recommend reading the work of Richard Rohr, Rupert Spira, Jack Kornfield, and Tara Brach, to name a few. They cover quite a large spectrum of approaches – part of the fun is discovering which one speaks to you.
“The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them. The hunt to discover those jewels––that's creative living.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
The common thread here is to slow down. Make time to observe. Quiet the storm so that you can discover the jewels that are already there, inside of you. What are some of your favorite ways to welcome inspiration? Share in the comments below!