Finding inspiration

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

How to stay creative for a long time? Where to look for inspiration if it has left you? How to spur your creativity? You will find answers to these questions in this article.

There is a certain semantic dissonance in the very sound of the words "creative worker". At the word “creativity” an image of a winged and wayward muse arises in my head, and when you say “worker”, for some reason a tired man with a shovel appears.

Nevertheless, if you want to make a living with creativity, then you have to somehow get along with these two images. And even in those moments when you are deadly tired and there are “no words, no music, no strength,” there are still ways to lure the muse of creativity. In this article, you will learn about some proven ways to do this.

1. Surround yourself with creative people

Even just being around writers, musicians, poets and artists can inspire you and refresh your mind. After all, it's not for nothing that all these creative unions and art cafes exist?

2. Start Something

If you can't write the first word or get the first stroke on a blank canvas, then start with drafts. Don't worry about perfection, just sketch and sketch. Your brain, freed from the burden of responsibility for mistakes, may well throw you a couple of new ideas.

3. Look for something new

Inspiration ends when the brain begins to move in a circle. To break this circle, constantly seek new experiences and sensations. If you are a rock musician, then try going to the opera, if you are writing detective stories, then start reading science fiction, and so on. New things are often born at the intersection of the arts.

4. Create a morning ritual

Perhaps you have a specific sequence of actions that spur your creativity? Maybe it's a cup of coffee, a morning walk or work in a cafe?

5. Don't Stop Learning

Don't give anyone a chance to call you "a bygone era" and "dinosaur". Do not be lazy to absorb everything new and advanced that appears in your field.

6. Do not isolate yourself from the outside world

Modern technologies allow you to work without leaving your home at all. However, such creative seclusion sooner or later leads to burnout and devastation. Do not be afraid of getting out of your shell, do not be lazy to communicate, and the outside world will give you such stories that you never dreamed of.

7. Drink coffee

Yes, just coffee. Sometimes a cup of hot, strong coffee can give such a boost to creativity that your hands won't keep up with your caffeinated thought. The main thing here is not to overdo it and know when to stop, otherwise this technique will stop working.

8. Don't be a perfectionist

Anyone who wants to create something great by all means often does not create anything at all. Someone who just does a good job every day has a chance to create something special one day.

9. Retire

This advice contradicts one of the previous ones, but for some it may be useful. If you feel overwhelmed by the information around you, confusion and lack of composure, then it may be worth pause and distance from everything around you. Go to the village, go to the mountains, turn off your phone, lock yourself in a room - this will help clear your head and hear the timid voice of a new idea.

10. Creativity can be trained

Yes, these are not muscles, but you can build in about the same way as the number of push-ups. This will require daily training, hard work and perseverance. Who said it's easy to create?

11. Do not part with a notebook

Ideas do not run on schedule during working hours from 9 to 18 hours. They can break into you at the most inopportune moment - when you are in the shower, on a date or just having lunch. They come without asking for your consent, and they leave in the same way. The only way to record their existence is to have a notebook, voice recorder, smartphone or other convenient tool for creating quick notes with you anytime and anywhere.

12. Build your store of ideas

Not a cemetery, no, just a storage facility. Creativity is sometimes like fishing: on some days the fish go in schools, and then for a week the nets remain empty. Make yourself a fridge for idea fish so you don't go hungry for the next creative rush.

13. Don't be a workaholic

Despite all the value of hard work, perseverance and dedication, one should not forget about rest. As much as you are passionate about your work, it is worth taking breaks, sometimes even by force. Just break away and rest - in the end, such a rest will benefit, and not harm the business you have begun.

14. Go in for sports

It's not only good for your health. give such a rush of adrenaline, confidence, energy that they can easily replace a cup of coffee, about which I wrote above.

15. Believe in yourself

There is nothing more important to creativity than self-confidence. The thoughts “I am not a creative person”, “I cannot” and “nobody needs this” should be forever thrown out of my head. After all, at least you need it, and any result, positive or negative, is better than doing nothing. Is not it?