sparking creativity

“I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones, and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life. And I am horribly limited.”

- Sylvia Plath

we all belong to the world of fashion, culture, art, media… 

even if you work in a field you don’t deem creative, there are aspects of your life and career that are in fact outlets that stimulate, as Roger Sperry would say, your right brain: more imaginative, intuitive, artistic. 

when we are children, we're consistently (more like constantly) mentally stimulated. everyday meeting new people, making friends, learning from authority figures, exposed to new places, exploring the world around us. our parents take on the responsibility of trips, enrolling us in extracurricular activities, teaching all the important aspects of life that they don't show you in school:  nature, animals, art, textures, individual expression. 

anything that fascinates you, whatever you wish to know more about, to delve into whole heartedly is the stimulation that we tend to lack as our lives become more stable. as we enter the work force, get married, own homes, we fall into routine. it becomes more difficult to find that stimulation; that creative outlet to continue our ‘grow’ your brain with new information, ideas, theories, even just places or visual composition. we see the same things each day, same people, do variations of the same work… it gets boring. 

lately, i’ve been feeling uninspired, complacent, and bored. i love my career, my life is more consistent now than ever. but that means my days follow the same pattern… my heart, soul, my brain all need an escape, something new that i can focus on, learn more about, stimulate my mind. 

‘you can’t use up creativity. the more you use, the more you have.’ - Oscar Wilde

we must have passions, explore, find happiness in what cannot be categorized or understood. keep exposing yourself, your mind to new people, places, things and we will collectively become better humans: at what we do, with other people, and with yourself. 

some ways to escape and spark some creativity..

get hooked on a new book

put together an inspiration board

it can be anything that you like, a scattered mess of everything that compiles who you are, love, want to see, do, accomplish

take a walk somewhere you’ve never been

volunteer

take a class

at a university, a pottery class, cooking.. anything you want!

make something with no directions, no recipe book. something from scratch

draw, write, send a letter, compile photos into an album that are sitting in a shoebox somewhere

people watch

explore a new town, the streets, people, shops, restaurants

try a new resturaunt / café

meet up with a friend you’ve been meaning to catch up with 

reach out to someone who inspires you to pick their brain

go to an art show, museum, etc. let your eyes get lost in a painting

take a weekend trip somewhere

start a new hobby

redecorating, blogging, photography, writing… 

plan an extravagant trip, one with flights and trains, someplace you’ve never been

make a move:

out of state, out of the county, even if its within the same town, or you can just explore options popping into open houses

i’m sure there are many more. i’ve even been choosing to watch old movies i LOVE that i find so much happiness in. seeing how the film industry developed, in the story lines that directors created so long ago; how they brought their visions to life. last night i rented 'Casablanca', next week i'm thinking 'Out of Africa'